A Lifetime ago
by rh-fntc
Summary: Future fic. An old boyfriend is getting married. Will Rory stop the wedding? Or will she start something else? GGVM crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing

AN: This is a future fic. I took the reconciliation between Luke and Lorelai for granted, as should every self respecting Gilmore Girls fan. Anyway, this is merely an idea trying to get out of my head for the last few weeks. So hope you'll enjoy reading.

"Mom!" twenty seven year old Rory Gilmore screamed at the top of her lungs as she entered the house. Hearing no reply she walked towards the kitchen, where the family usually convened. Finding no one there she poured herself some coffee and sat on one of the stools near the island.

"Mother-daughter day officially started ten minutes ago." She stated in a long-suffering tone.

Her mother entered the room in a hurry. Pressing a kiss on her forehead and then went straight to the coffee pot.

"Sorry sweets. Will and Richie were asking for their teddy bears, which Luke forgot to pack with their bags. I had to look for it in their room, and of course with all the clutter I couldn't find it till I cluttered their room even more." Her mom uttered all in one breath after taking a sip of her coffee.

Rory merely shook her head in amazement as her mother rambled on how her step dad Luke Danes was unable to pack the one thing the twins were sure to look for in their week with the Gilmores.

"We'll have to wait until mom gets here to pick up the bears, then we can head out. So where's Logan?" her mom asked as Rory kept looking at her.

"Probably over the Atlantic Ocean, he had to go to an emergency thing in London."

"So much for the two weeks off together huh? Well we could always spend those two weeks off together since Luke can't seem to fulfill his promise of leaving the diner for two weeks also." Lorelai stated as she put her arm around her daughter's shoulder.

There was honking from outside so Lorelai headed out to hand her mother her sons' teddy bears. Rory remained seated as she waited for her mother to come back. The phone rang but she kept to her position, the Gilmore-Danes household usually screened their calls anyway.

After the message Luke left for callers, a familiar voice was heard.

"Okay so your message last night will not do at all. You guys have to come here. Will and Richie's names are already printed and everything was already sent out months ago. And to tell me this late in the game that you guys are still not sure is just plain mean. I really want you guys to be here for this. Now I won't play the-you-owe-me card Luke, Uncle Luke, but I will if you guys force me. I really want you guys here. We really want you guys to make it. Just say the word and the plane would be ready in an hour. So there, call me anytime, you won't get the machine I promise. Just be here."

At the end of the message Rory was awestruck. When Lorelai returned she saw the expression on her Rory's face.  
"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked

"Message." Was the only thing that Rory could say.

Lorelai played the message and understanding dawned on her. She looked at her daughter and can't help but feel a sense of trepidation.

"So since when has Jess been calling?" Rory finally asked.

"Awhile back sweetie. He is Luke's nephew."

"But he wasn't here for the wedding or when Will and Richie were born. Why would Luke keep in touch with him when he was never here?"

"He couldn't come for those moments but we did visit him a couple of times. I just didn't want to upset you. He's been doing really well. He even set up a college fund for your brothers. He said it was the least he could do after the trouble he caused for Luke back in the day."

"Oh." was the only thing that Rory could say. Lorelai sighed she didn't know how Rory would react to the news of her ex-boyfriend turned step-cousin.

Luke burst into the room. He looked from Lorelai to Rory and then back on Lorelai.

"Lorelai I need to talk to you." Lorelai knew it was code for the Jess subject.

"It's okay Luke, Rory heard Jess' message."

Luke still looked skeptical but went on anyway. "Okay I just talked to Jess and he is freaking out. First with the message I left that we might not be able to make it today then with the fact that I may be the only one coming next week. The In-laws and the rest of the party are arriving today too, so it means he would be surrounded by people he can't call family, meanwhile Liz said she could only come on the actual day since Willa is still sick with the chicken pox. Jess is insisting that we come. He really wants us to be there Lorelai."

"There for what?" Rory piped in.

"Aw jeez. Jess is getting married next week Rory."

"Oh."

"And I talked to Lane and she said she can fill in for me for the next two weeks.

"Why does he need us to be there for already anyway? The wedding is two weeks away." Lorelai asked just to give Rory time to adjust to the fact that Jess was getting married.

"Apparently his fiancée planned out an entire itinerary for close friends and family." Luke sighed. He really wanted to go for Jess' sake.

"But I was going to spend the week with Rory, especially since Logan is out of the country." Lorelai grumbled.

"Or I could come with you guys." The comment inspired quizzical looks from both Luke and Lorelai.

"I'll call Jess to find out." Luke walked over the phone and it seemed that Jess answered at the first ring. "I think we can come. But um… can Rory come with us? Are you sure? Okay we'll be there. A car? To take us to New York? The plane is there? Okay. Your welcome Jess. I'm glad we're coming too." As he put down the phone he faced the girls and nodded.

"He said its okay. A car will be around in hour to take us to the plane in New York, which would take us straight to Neptune, California."

AN Post Script:

There you go, this is a crossover between Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. Watch out for the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I appreciate the feedback. I hope you guys can be patient with this I'll be trying to make the characters from VM familiar to those who do not watch the show (I hope this will peak the interest of those who don't watch Veronica Mars. It's one of the best shows ever in my humble opinion. Especially since Gilmore Girls will be followed by Veronica Mars come fall, in the new CW Network. Anyway, end of shameless plugging of VM and on with the story). For those wonderingwhether this will be a Literati, the answer is I don't know yet. But I know forcertain that this won't be a Rogan. I liked the pairing just because I knew it would end the Dean disaster, but it has served it's purpose and it is time to move on from thatrelationship.Huntzberger's too wishy washy for my taste so there, rest assured thatthis won't end with Rory and _that_ guy, (there is only oneLogan for me and he is Logan Echolls). I'm introducingmy own character in this chapter, just soreaders won't get confused.Her presence will explain a lot of the how and the why that pertains to Jess.Okay, now this time I mean it, on with the story.

By some miracle all three of them were packed and ready when black limousine arrived at the driveway. The women gave shot Luke questioning looks, who merely shrugged and headed for the car. The driver took their bags as they entered the vehicle. The rest of the ride was in awkward silence, as if all three individuals were trying to come to terms with the news that they were bombarded with.

They arrived at JFK in record time. They were ushered through security, which took no more than five minutes. Then a flight attendant took them to an elevator. They had to ride in a golf cart towards the plane that they were boarding. They were assured that their luggage were already on the plane.

Lorelai and Rory were the first to enter the aircraft. What they saw caused Lorelai to whistle. The interior of the plane was tastefully designed; it was as if they stepped into a house. There were two sofas on the opposite sides of the plane complete with end tables and lamps. Down further were three rows of the passenger seats, just like the typical first class airline, one of which was occupied by a stranger who was dozing quietly.

The flight attendant mentioned that there were bathrooms down the aisle if they need to use it and a bedroom if anyone wishes for more privacy.

Both women seemed to be in awe of their mode of transportation whereas when Luke entered the plane he automatically sat down on one of the sofas and grabbed the magazine lying on the end table.

"Hey Luke." Lorelai whispered to her husband as she sat next to him.

"What Lorelai?" was her only answer as Luke continued to flip through the magazine.

"Did you know this was going to be the plane before we got here?" she finally asked for both her and Rory's benefit.

"Well yes, if you hadn't rejected the impulsive times that Jess asked us over you wouldn't be surprised of this plane."

"Are you telling me that the times that we went there on our own accord, seated in coach might I add, could have been prevented if only I said yes when Jess insisted on us being there?" Lorelai ranted.

Luke shushed her and nodded at the direction of the other passenger. He shrugged and muttered "It's complicated". The flight would have been filled with a question and answer portion if it hadn't been for a widescreen television unfolding from the ceiling of the plane. The flight attendant asked them if they had any preference for a movie. Lorelai was handed a small book of their available movies. While she and Luke perused their choices Rory moved to the other sofa and stared out the window.

During the flight they were served pastries for the first hour and an elaborate meal for lunch. The serving of alcohol was continuous and was appreciated by only two of the four passengers as the stranger was still fast asleep and Rory was pretty much out of it.

As the plane touched down in Neptune, California, Lorelai Gilmore can't help but exclaim; "That is the way to fly."

Another limousine was waiting for them as they exited the plane. Back in the car it was once again the three of them. Lorelai kept making up stories about their mysterious passenger. Luke was smiling at his wife's antics and Rory was back to staring out the window.

It was not long before they entered a gated house and came to a halt. It seemed that they were not the first to arrive. They waited ten minutes before stopping at the actual house. The driver opened the door for them.

Luke, Lorelai and Rory found themselves standing before a Gilmore-like house only it was twice its size. The doors were open and just a few feet away was one Jess Mariano standing beside a petite blonde woman facing another couple, another petite woman who happened to be brunette and a tall blond man who had his arms around the brunette.

When Jess looked up his face lit up when he saw the three. He stepped away from the present company he was in and walked towards them.

"Luke! I'm so glad you could come. Lorelai, Rory. It's so good of you to come." Jess stated as he shook Luke's hand which turned into a hug. The two women were silent as they watched the exchange. Lorelai never really got used to the more talkative Jess and Rory was not used to the cultured tone of his voice. While Jess was asking after their flight he was maneuvering them towards the other three people he was with before.

He stepped away from them and stood next to the blonde girl. They all exchanged smiles and remained quiet.

"Oh, where are my manners. Introductions are in order. Guys, this is Luke," the blonde girl nudge him as he said this, "Uncle Luke," he amended as he flashed the blonde a teasing smile. "And this is his wife Lorelai and her daughter Rory." He gestured to each of them. "Uncle Luke, you've met Veronica Mars, and this is Cindy and Richard Casablancas. You five are the first to arrive." Jess continued. Handshakes and nods went around their group.

"Would you like some refreshments?" Veronica asked all of them once the introductions were done.

Just before anyone could answer a yellow Xterra came to a screeching halt, the passenger door was opened with such force it threatened to bounce back and hit the man who opened it.

"I swear if you ever drive like that again I will have a talk with the Sheriff about suspending that license of yours," said the passenger, a middle-aged bald man to the driver, a man who looked to be Veronica's age.

"Oh, come on dude. It's been awhile since I've handled my baby like that." The driver responded as he got out of the vehicle, he tossed his keys to the waiting man and walked next to his angry passenger.

"I told you, it's always Mr. Mars to you." He retorted then he saw the group of people staring at them. He flushed and murmured something under his breath. The younger man laughed at what he said and both proceeded towards the group.

"Daddy!" Veronica exclaimed as she proceeded to hug the man. "This is my father Keith Mars, and this is Logan Echolls. Dad, you remember Luke Danes, this is his wife Lorelai and her daughter Rory Gilmore." Another round of handshakes went around.

"So about those refreshments, I'll ask the maid to bring us something." Veronica finally uttered and went to what may be the direction of the kitchen. While Jess, shepherded everyone to the living room.

"I thought you were staying at the Grand?" Richard asked Logan as everyone was trying to find a seat they'd be comfortable with.

"I figured I might as well crash here since Keith has been praising the new house that Jess had, ad nauseam. You don't mind do you Jess? Besides I won't go to the Grand even if you paid me." Logan directed his gaze at Jess waiting for his answer.

"No not at all." Jess replied.

Before they could go further into the conversation Veronica strolled in walking arm in arm with an African American man, who she introduced as Wallace Fennel.

"I thought we were the first to get here, Veronica." Cindy spoke up for the first time.

"Who, Wallace, he practically lives here." Veronica replied.

"We're actually thinking of charging him rent." Jess stated as he walked towards Veronica and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Now, now Jess, you don't charge family." Keith Mars countered as he too walked over to Veronica and removed Jess' arm and replaced it with his own. Jess merely smiled and shook his head and walked over where Luke, Lorelai and Rory were seated.

"Now you see why I need you guys here." He whispered to them.

"Don't be a spoilsport Jessie boy; those Mars do that to anyone anyway." Logan punched Jess playfully.

"Besides I was only answering the call of best friend duty here. After all I am not the one who is getting married. V, here practically begged me to make this trip in the first place. As the best man-" Wallace was cut of by a giggling.

Everyone looked at the direction of the giggling. It was by the door of the living room, a black haired girl, with eyes shining with laughter. Jess stood up abruptly and proceeded to hug the girl.

"Addy! I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow." He muffled into her hair.  
"Well after you threatened me with such a gruesome death, plus the use of the best friend card, which you can't use for a year by the way, I knew I had no choice but to be here." The girl replied.

Jess laughed quietly and steered them towards the group. "I would like for all of you to meet the best man, Adriana Townsend."

"Oh that explains the giggling." Lorelai piped in.

"Yeah, it kinda does. Wallace here is the patron of honor and yours truly is the best woman, second only after the bride." Addy amended, shooting a look at Veronica.

"Fine! Patron of honor! Seriously girl, you ruined my first impression for these good folks here." Wallace retorted.

Veronica giggled at the exchange and Jess walked over to her side. A maid entered the room and started distributing the refreshments that Veronica mentioned. Bit by bit the people in the group formed smaller groups and started talking. Luke, Lorelai and Rory made the appearance of talking but they were trying to take everything in. Jess moved into their cluster.

"So you guys tired? The rooms are ready. So if you guys want to freshen up you can. It's only five; dinner would be at seven so you have two hours to rest and relax." Were the first words out of his mouth when he reached them.

Luke nodded and so did Lorelai. Rory smiled at him and nodded as well. Apparently the rest of the guests were thinking of the same thing. So everyone stood up and followed Jess and Veronica up the wide staircase, with the exception of Addy and Wallace.

When they've all reached the top of stairs Jess kissed Veronica on the cheek and murmured "Divide and conquer." Veronica nodded.

"Luke, Lorelai, Rory and Logan can come with me, Keith, Mac and Dick, Veronica will go with you."

"You two better not sleep in the same room young man." Keith interjected, wagging his finger at him.

"Come on Dad, Jess knows you like to clean the rifle when he is around. No way no how will he even think of making you clean your machine gun." Veronica replied as she slipped her arm into Keith's and steered him to the right of the staircase.

No one seemed surprised at the comment except for Lorelai and Rory, who both stared dumbly at the retreating forms of Keith, Veronica, Mac and Dick. Logan chuckled quietly, Jess looked amused.

"Guns? Why would he have guns?" was the first thing out of Lorelai's mouth.

"Keith Mars is the former sheriff of good ole Neptune. Nowadays he is in the PI business, which entitles him to a gun or two." Logan responded. "Don't worry about Jess; he's not the first to be threatened with the same old line. I believe mine was actually used as the mounting place of a pair of binoculars." He gleefully added.

"Shut up Echolls. Be glad you won't have to face those empty threats anymore." Jess smilingly contributed.

"Touché Mariano. Now about that room, otherwise I might shortchange you with the tip."

"Psychotic jackass."

"Broody Mc Jackass"  
"It's good to have you back man." Jess clapped Logan in the back.

"Good to be back." Logan replied.

"What just happened?" Lorelai was astounded.

"Don't worry about it. I've been told that they do that all the time." Luke replied

"So you and Veronica used to date?" Lorelai asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, long time ago," was the answer.

"And I'm assuming that you, Jess are marrying Veronica Mars. I'm just saying. You didn't even bother to introduce her as your fiancée." Luke shot an annoyed look at Lorelai as she was saying this, she responded with her patented what-look.

"Veronica and I are not really into labels. And yes she is the woman I am marrying." Jess replied with a tight smile.

"Since when have you and Veronica been not into that label thing?" Logan asked with a shit-eating grin. "It's has been my boyfriend this, my boyfriend that, then last year it has been my fiancé this, my fiancé that. Not once has Veronica talked to me using Jess to refer to you."

"And we're here." Jess opened the door to the first room, effectively cutting Logan off.

The opened door revealed a huge room with a four poster king sized bed. The room was tastefully decorated. There was a small table at the corner and another door, probably leading to a bathroom. Across from the bed was a big cabinet, which Jess opened to show the entertainment system. Beside the bed was a sofa, full of throw pillows. There was a walk-in closet next to the bed; Luke and Lorelai's luggage were thoughtfully placed near the door. The bay windows showed the view of Neptune and the door beside the window led to a balcony which had two lounge chairs.

"This room is the Luke and Lorelai room."

"What! You have a room named after us." Lorelai gave Jess a narrowed look.

"This room is reserved for the lovely couple Luke and Lorelai Danes, for present and future use." Luke picked up a card from the end table beside the bed.

"Veronica had too much time in her hands since school let out." Jess shrugged as if that was answer enough.

"So does this mean that no one else will use this room except for me and Luke?" Lorelai jokingly asked.

"Huh. I guess so. But you won't exactly be in the position to know that anyone was here when you're half-way across the country."

"Now you've done it Jess. She'll be calling everyday from now on to check if anyone is using this room." Rory interjected.

"Hey! I wasn't even thinking about that, but since you brought it up that's the greatest plan ever!" Lorelai piped in, Luke mumbled an apology and Jess started for the door, Logan followed and soon Rory did too, meanwhile Lorelai was left babbling to Luke her plan for maintaining their minutes by calling Jess after nine so it'll be part of the unlimited nights and weekends of the cell phone provider.

Once outside Jess led Rory and Logan down the hall. Two doors down, he opened another room. The room had a very different air from the Luke and Lorelai room. The walls were painted pale pink. A flower arrangement was on top of the end table, beside a queen sized bed. There was a shelf full of books where the table was in Luke and Lorelai's room, a comfortable looking couch beside it. Just like the other room there was also a walk-in closet and an access to the balcony.

"This room actually shares the bathroom with the one next door. But since no one is using that room it's all yours." Jess finally breaking the silence.

"What's this room called?" Rory asked him shyly.

"It's the Pink room." Jess answered curtly.

Logan was looking out the window and Jess looked at the same spot he was looking at. Rory was thoroughly confused by the reaction of both men. She remained silent.

"Sorry. It's just that Veronica was the one who made the interior decorating decisions, and the rooms have a part of who she is." Jess mumbled quietly as he stared out the window.

Logan smiled a ghost of a smile directed at Rory, as though he knew exactly what Jess was talking about.

"We'll leave you alone to rest. Dinner is at seven. And if you are feeling restless there is a library downstairs." Jess finally snapped out of his reverie. He and Logan stepped out of the room and closed the door behind them. Rory leaned on the door when she thought she heard voices. They were kind of muffled but she could make out some of the words.

"So… the pink room huh?"

"Yeah, she loves that room, reminds her of yesteryears."

"Innocence, marshmallows and promises, the pink Veronica."

"There's even a Lilly room."

"What does it look like?"

"You'll see, she told me to show you."

"I'm not staying there am I?"

"No. Veronica can be mean, but she's not that mean. Besides, you'll be sharing the room with the Deputy."

"Dude! You like, have a mansion here, but you're sticking me with Weevil? Man, I'll take the Grand any day."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I hear he doesn't snore. Much."

"How do you know?"

"Veronica told me. And no she doesn't know this firsthand. Carmen told her during the typical conversations women have about their significant others."

"Do you ever wonder what she says about you?"

"No!"

"You do, don't you?"

The voices faded away and Rory was confused even more, it was obvious there was more to Veronica and the rest of her circle than meets the eye. The ringing of her phone snapped her from her thoughts.

"Hey Logan."

AN: Hope you enjoy the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: On with the story...

Lorelai Gilmore-Danes couldn't believe it. The house was huge, the rooms were huge, heck even the bathrooms were huge. Jess Mariano was one rich man.

"How did this all happen?" she blurted out into the air.

"How did what happen?" Luke asked her, his head popping out of the walk-in closet, he was in the middle of unpacking their things.

"How did Jess get so rich? I mean all this time I still thought of him as that punk teenager, who was going all Rebel Without a Cause on us. But now…"

"You didn't expect him to grow up? Get his act together?"

"Well, no not really. But this, it's all too much. He didn't even graduate from high school for goodness' sake." Lorelai retorted

"Actually he got his GED about seven years ago." Was the only response that she got from Luke.

Lorelai flopped down the bed and stared at the ceiling, "Would you at least get out here so I could at least try and wrap my head around the fact that Jess is a successful young man."

There was an audible sigh from the closet and Luke left the closet in favor of answering his wife's questions, "So…what do you want to know?" he asked as he took a seat beside her.

"How did this all happen?" Lorelai asked again as she sat up and gestured towards everything that was in the room.

"Okay. Remember six years ago? Jess was living in Philadelphia. They had a sort of indie bookstore/coffee shop/ gallery/ printing press, all that artsy stuff going on. When I visited him there, I remember Rory also went; he just seemed to have it together. Then they had the idea of franchising their place. But then it would stop being indie and stuff. So Jess left Philadelphia while his partners managed their shop, I still can't classify that place yet. He was visiting Adriana here in Neptune. So he thought maybe he should set up shop here too. But he took on a partner, to keep the independent reputation. He must have known what he was doing since he managed to open places like the one that he had in Philadelphia in other states, I think he had about twenty of those and he always took on a partner. Then three years ago he sold his shares to his partners, effectively maintaining the indie feel, his words not mine."

"Do you mean to tell me he got all his money from bookstores/ coffee shops/ galleries/ printing press? Still doesn't explain the size of this place, even my parents would be jealous over this house. And was he staying here all this time?" Lorelai asked once Luke stopped talking.

"Geez Lorelai. Did you even look at how much the college fund he set up for Will and Richie? It was for $10,000 each. And that was four years ago, when the twins were first born."

"But he's rich Luke. Are you sure he got all these legally? I mean the plane and the limos. There must be something fishy there. Isn't Mariano Italian, he must be in the mob, he used to live in New York, so?" She insisted.

"The plane wasn't his. But it might as well be his since the owner is this rich environmentalist. Addy Townsend is only twenty-three and filthy rich, Jess' words not mine. She also happens to be Jess' best friend. She lets Jess use the plane whenever he wants; she doesn't like the idea of 'polluting the environment by using such a gas-guzzling pile of crap,' but Jess needs it for business so he gets free-reign." Luke tried to be patient with his wife but he stood up trying to get back to his unpacking.

"That still doesn't explain the limos. And business? I thought he sold those indie shops he owned?" Lorelai grabbed his arm, trying to get him back on the bed.

"Lorelai."

"Lukey!"

"Fine! About the same time he sold those places, Addy's grandfather died and left her his estate, as his only granddaughter. He left her several companies including some publishing houses. She was only twenty years old. And I guess since Jess loves books, she gave him complete control of those publishing companies. She never really liked that aspect of business; I think her grandfather only brought those because of a feud with another family."

"Ah the rich; just buy something to spite another of their kind. That still doesn't explain the limos."

"The limos are just to piss me off." Luke released an exasperated sigh.

"Remember when I went here for a few days, three years ago? Jess had a limo pick me up from the airport. When I got to his house he was waiting for me with a camera just as I got out from the limo. I guess I had a disgruntled look on my face. Jess could care less about those limos. But he likes to try my patience once in awhile; I guess he still isn't as grown up as I thought he was. He still has that piece of trash that he calls a car from Stars Hollow, he did do a little work on it so it looks a little less like a pile of trash."

"So this is all legit? I mean, Jess is such a success story." Lorelai finally stated as a silence settled over them after everything Luke had said.

"Yeah, I guess he is." Luke flopped down the bed and murmured about its comfort.

Lorelai smiled at her husband and stood from the said bed, when Luke asked where she was going she motioned to the balcony and Luke smiled sleepily and was asleep even before Lorelai got out into the balcony.

Once outside Lorelai was surprised to see that the balcony wasn't confined to their bedroom, it was in fact part of a whole. The rest of the rooms had equal access. She figured that she might as well explore when she saw a lone figure about two bedrooms down, it was none other than her daughter, leaning across the railing.

"Hey babe, can't rest either?" Lorelai asked Rory when she reached her side.

Rory's response was wane smile and looking back to the view of Neptune before them.

"I talked to Logan, he's already in London. He's looking at back to back meetings so he's even more impatient than usual."

"Which Logan?" Lorelai asked smilingly at Rory.

"Mom!"

"Rory!"

"My Logan, then. That guy, Logan Echolls, isn't he the rising star in the field of directing?"

"I knew I heard his name before. And that Richard Casablancas guy, he's like the Donald Trump of the West Coast, with better hair of course."

"Yes, that's him, but I heard he's more into charity work than real estate, it's just his sideline, is what I heard."

The two were quiet as they contemplated the impact of their exchange.

"Jess really has changed hasn't he Mom?" Rory shot a look at her mom.

"I used to think he'll be in prison by now, but surprise, surprise, Jess is a success." Lorelai giggled at her rhyme.

"So what do you know?" Rory prodded at the knowing smirk that Lorelai was wearing.

Lorelai related what Luke basically told her.

"I didn't know Addy was his best friend. I didn't even hear of her since today." Rory finally stated once Lorelai was done with her monologue.

"Luke didn't get into their relationship but I have a feeling that they've known each other for a while. I mean you don't just hand a company over to anybody." Lorelai countered.

"I guess so." Rory frowned as she contemplated her mother's words

"I'm going to join Luke in the bed." Lorelai announce after she got tired of the quiet.

"Dirty" this inspired a bark of laughter from her mom. Lorelai hugged her daughter reassuringly, hoping that the experience won't cause too much pain for her only daughter, she doesn't know why she feels thather daughter is on the verge of something huge, but when her maternal instincts kick in they tend to be right.

When Lorelai went back inside the house Rory was left feeling restless. She figured that she might as well follow Jess' suggestion and went looking for the library.

AN2: Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rory Gilmore had to agree with her mom, the place was huge.

She can't help but compare this house to the place that she and Logan had. After she graduated from Yale and Logan came back from London, they decided to live together again. Their place in New Haven is like a prototype of where they used to live. But less lived in because Logan is often flying all over the map and Rory's job tend to take her to the nation's capital more often than she cared for.

She smiled at the thought of Jess scoffing at the suit of armor in their place. This house was filled with paintings and photographs, lining the hallways and decorating the rooms. It was both airy and homey, Rory can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, she can't help but remember that their place tend to have an empty feel to it.

When she reached downstairs she realized that she had no idea how to find the library. She saw the living room and the foyer where they all gathered before, that was to the left of the house. To the right she could see the dining room and an arc that had to lead to the kitchen. She walked further down and saw a hallway with a single door at the end. She figured she might as well look if that was the library.

She quietly opened the door and found out that she was right. Behind the door was massive room with shelves lined up from top to bottom. All filled with books. Rory was in awe. She could only imagine the collection that Jess had. She shut the door as quietly as she opened it and openly stared at the layout.

There were books from the floor to the ceiling, several couches strategically placed around each corner. There was even a ladder leaning across from the bookshelves. She turned to the right and can't help but smirk at the card catalog. Trust Jess to revert to the use of the old-fashioned system, nowadays libraries use computers to look up books. She turned yet again and noticed the thick curtains hanging at the back of the room. It looked like the curtains were being used to partition a section of the library.

Behind her the door opened and closed. When she turned to look she saw none other than Jess Mariano.

"Hey." Was the only thing Rory could think of saying.

"Hey. I see you found the library." Jess smiled at her greeting.

"Yes. I have a nose for these things. It's gorgeous, by the way. You even have a card catalog." She replied.

"Actually this is only for Veronica's sake. I know where every book is."

"Oh."

Jess looked at her and then looked away in favor of gazing at his library.

"I actually copied the design from Addy's library." He looked at Rory conversationally.

"Speaking of Addy, I never heard of her before today." Jess shot her a puzzled look at her response.

"I guess we never really discussed my life pre-Stars Hollow."

"We did." She insisted.

"That was a lifetime ago Rory."

"So it would it seem. I used to think we were friends, Jess. But after five years with no news, I guess I was wrong." Rory can't help the hurt from creeping in her voice.

Before Jess could reply a noise behind the curtain interrupted them.

The curtains parted and revealed Adriana Townsend; she smiled uncertainly at Jess and Rory, and then held up a book for Jess' inspection.

"Guess what I found behind the curtain?"

Jess smiled awkwardly at his friend and to Rory's surprise, he blush a deep shade of red.

"Yup, I have found it. My first edition copy of The Old Man and the Sea, imagine my surprise since I distinctly remember asking you if you had it and you denying having it. And guess what, I saw an entire shelf of my books, all of which were missing for a while now"

"Now Addy, I know what this looks like. But you have to understand if you hadn't arrived early I would have had time to hide them all from you."

Rory was confused at the exchange to say the least. But she kept mum as the two continued their conversation.

"Hmmm…look Mariano; I know I can't kill you since it's almost your wedding and all, but if the books are not in my house by sundown tomorrow I just might."

"You do know that you brought it upon yourself don't you? Those books won't be living this library and you know it." Jess retorted. Addy ended up grumbling and putting the book down on the nearest table.

"She has three copies of each book." Jess told Rory, as though it explained everything.

"I'm going home. It's six, so I have an hour before your blasted dinner. But I might be late. So no recriminations since you have been warned." Addy stated as she started for the door.

"I'll walk you there," Jess replied to Addy, "Feel free to browse Rory. I'm not like other uptight library owners, I actually let people into my library." He said to Rory.

Addy made a face at him and he responded in kind.

"Speaking of my house, do you know that there is no wall or anything separating our properties?" Addy asked Jess as they headed out the door, Rory didn't get to hear Jess' response as the door closed behind them.

She sighed in exasperation once she was alone. She thought she was going to be able to have a real conversation with Jess when he entered the library. But the girl that he thought of as his best friend got in the way of things.

As she walked around the library she can't help but feel helpless. She doesn't even know Jess anymore. Why exactly did she want to be there in the first place? She sighed again and picked up a random book from a shelf. _Ishmael_ by Daniel Quinn, she remembered reading the book before, still she sat on one of the couches and started reading.

Rory became so engrossed in the book that she didn't hear the door open, until the person spoke up.

"Hi Rory, I'm sorry to interrupt, but is Jess here? I can't seem to find him anywhere." It was Veronica Mars, Jess' intended.

Rory looked up and stared at her blankly. Veronica had to repeat her question. Rory blinked and Veronica finally got her attention.

"He walked Addy home." Was her answer to Veronica's question.

"Oh." Veronica looked like she was contemplating on leaving Rory alone.

"The house is beautiful by the way." Rory gave her a small smile.

"Thank you. It took a lot of work. Between school and the engagement and the decorating, I couldn't imagine everything turning out as beautifully as it did." Veronica gave Rory a tentative smile.

An awkward silence settled over them, each smiling at each other uncomfortably. Then it seemed that Veronica decided to take control of the situation.

"Did you explore the entire room yet?" Rory shook her head. Veronica gestured towards the curtain.

"That is the best part of this library. Come on, I'll show you."

Rory stood up and followed Veronica who was already walking towards the curtains. She parted the cloth and behind it was another room. There was a bed on the corner and a laptop and a typewriter on the table beside the bed. At the foot of the bed was shelf, full of books, which Rory assumed to be Addy's. There was also a small fridge across the room. To Rory, the room screamed Jess.

"This is where Jess likes to write." Veronica explained, not knowing that Rory already arrived at that conclusion.

"So he's still writing? I thought he was running publishing houses that Addy handed over to him." Rory was sincerely curious.

"Well, he used to when he first got the companies. But nowadays he just attends the meetings and gets the reports. He likes the job mainly for the books. He loves reading manuscripts of up and coming writers." The quiet settled over them again.

'Look, I think it's important that we have this out in the open. I know that you and Jess used to date. And I really hoped that there wouldn't be any awkwardness between us. But apparently I can be wrong sometimes, just don't tell Jess that. Anyway, Jess seems glad that you are here, and if he's okay then so am I. I just hope that you're okay too." Veronica started.

"I'm okay." Rory responded quietly.

"I knew it would be weird. But I'm sure we can get over it. After all you'll be family soon enough, right?" Veronica asked brightly.

"Right."

AN: Hope you enjoyed reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: This chapter has been very difficult to write, so it's with a huge sigh of relief that I was able to finish it. Anyway, on with the story...

Veronica Mars is uncomfortable. And these days very few things can make her feel uncomfortable. But talking to your fiancé's ex-girlfriend just happens to be one of them.

She sighed inwardly. When she woke up at five am this morning she didn't exactly imagine her day going like this.

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the absence of Jess' warmth. Turned out her beloved was already on the phone, making frantic calls to his uncle.

Veronica can't help but say yes when Jess asked her if his ex-girlfriend, of course he didn't call her that, he just said the name Rory, can come to their two weeks of fun, fun, fun, before the wedding. She knew Jess would have said no if he knew she wasn't comfortable with the idea. But she also knew how much he wanted someone from his side of the family to be there two weeks before the wedding.

Jess got along surprisingly well with her father, despite the threats that he had to endure from the former sheriff. In fact, their banter seemed to cement the foundation of their relationship. Jess is also well-liked by her friends. Hell, even Logan Echolls got along with him.

Veronica met Luke Danes a few months after she and Jess started going out. Luke merely raised his eyebrows at Jess' choice of girlfriend. But Jess shook his head and laughed at their silent exchange. Jess explained later that it was because she was blonde and short; of course she insisted that she was petite and not short. She also met Jess' mom and sister, but Jess did not seem to keen on letting her meet his stepfather and father.

She knew was the exact opposite of Rory Gilmore appearance-wise. But she liked it that way at least she's certain that Jess isn't with her just because he is reminded of Rory.

She just hopes she won't regret agreeing to house the ex-girlfriend.

Both women left the room and walked back to where Rory was sitting before. Another heavy silence and Veronica can't help but feel stifled by the situation. How exactly can one alleviate the tension between the past and the future?

The door opened and revealed the answer to her prayers, the one and only Logan Echolls.

"Ve-ro-ni-ca, Jess is looking for you." Logan drawled out as he saw the two women. He flashed his patented smirk at the expression on Veronica's face; he could tell just how much fun she was having talking to her future husband's ex.

"He is? Well then, he beckons I suppose I _must_ come running." Veronica sarcastically replied as she headed out the door, but not before smiling at Rory and a grateful smile for Logan.

"Ah… young love. So… you're Rory Gilmore."

"I am. And you're Logan Echolls."

"Now that we're done with the introductions, are you here to stop the great Mars-Mariano union? Coz, I have to tell you they even have the alliteration going for them." Rory's eyes widened at the question, Logan merely smirked at her reaction.

"Well I could ask you the same thing. You used to date Veronica right?" She finally replied.

"Good one. And no, I'm not here to stop the wedding. For a Yalie, I thought you would be smarter than that, were you not there as we were walking to the rooms, one might deduce that Jess and I are actual friends. I'm the groomsman. Your turn."

"I don't think I am. And as Veronica said, I'm going to be family. How did you know I graduated from Yale?" Rory seemed anxious to change the subject. The thought of stopping the wedding did not cross her mind, until of course Logan Echolls, brought it up, now she has to wonder if she was here because of what he said.

"Jess hasn't changed so much from when you've known him. He still sometimes resorts to monosyllabic communication, but he tells Addy everything, BFF bond and all and Addy tells me some of those things." Logan answered with a flick of his wrist.

"And you and Addy are?" Rory prompted

"Man, aren't you nosy." Rory blushed at his comment.

"Addy and I are classified under undefined. She's the UN and I'm the defined. Personally, I think of her as my own little heiress." He stated as he sat down on one of the couches, theatrically putting his hands behind his head.

"So she's your girlfriend?" Rory tried to clarify.

"If by girlfriend, you mean a girl who makes out with me, goes out to dates and I won't get all crude and stuff, but yes under those categories she is. But we don't see each other as regularly as I'd like, but when we do it is what it is. As I said she tries not to define our relationship, she just enjoys the perks." He smiled genially at Rory, as if he was used to answering such questions.

"By the way, you have a very funny mom. She was hilarious." Logan commented offhandedly.

"How exactly would you know that?"

"I was in the plane with the three of you. I was a little pissed at having to wait three extra hours to get back here but the in flight entertainment that is your mom and stepfather was really worth it."

"You were there?" she was truly surprised.

"Addy's plane, guy she makes out with." Logan pointed to himself.

Rory can't help but laugh at his response. Logan smiled at her warmly and the two fell into a relaxed conversation.

Rory learned that Logan, Veronica, Wallace, Cindy and Richard, who are only called Mac and Dick by close friends, all graduated from the same university, that the five were friends since high school. She also found out that Veronica is in the middle of completing her master's degree in Stanford. The two were so engrossed in their exchange that they did not notice the time.

"Hey guys, you two may want to freshen up, it's quarter to seven." Veronica popped in the library.

"Well, gosh darn it Ronnie, you don't say. I actually have to be somewhere like fifteen minutes ago, so I'd better get going. It was nice talking to you Rory. Veronica." Logan tipped his imaginary hat to the two women and left the room. Rory was smiling and Veronica was smiling and shaking her head at Logan's antics.

After a few murmured words the two women parted company.

**DINNER**

Dinner was loud and rowdy. It was probably due to the amount of alcohol that most of the company imbibed in prior to the meal. Even Keith Mars was joking around with his future son-in-law. The conversation was continuous and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was a huge relief for both Jess and Veronica, who were worried that the two weeks of activities they planned were going to be a bust if the families and friends were unable to get along.

At the head of the table was Keith and to his right were Veronica, Mac, Dick and Wallace, then two empty chairs. To the left were Jess, Luke, Lorelai, Rory and another empty chair. It was if the dinner setup was arranged according to who knew each other way back when.

Logan Echolls arrived half an hour late into the gathering and sat at one of the empty chairs on Veronica's side. Jess and Veronica exchanged knowing looks which did not go unnoticed by Rory as she was glancing at the former most of the night.

His arrival made the party even more rowdy. Jess asked him where he went for the last forty-five minutes and he responded by raising his eyebrows and smirking at Jess, as if telling him that he should know exactly where he was.

Luke and Lorelai fit right in with the rest of the crowd, chatting with everyone on the table. Rory evenfound herself talking to Wallace who was sitting across from her.

Half an hour later Addy strolled in with a man wearing a uniform on her arm.

"Look who I found wandering around your castle." Addy announced as the man walked her to the seat next to Rory and proceeded to seat down on the chair next to Logan.

"Well, if isn't the law, fancy meeting you here, deputy. Come to take me away?" Logan asked the man mockingly.

"Once again Adriana, this isn't a castle! It doesn't even measure up to your house, not even a little bit." Jess sternly replied to Addy's earlier comment.

"No, Echolls I'm not here for you. I'm here for my favorite PI." Eli retorted.

"You're here for me? Oh, Eli you shouldn't have." Keith Mars piped in.

Veronica rolled her eyes at her father's antics, "Dad, I think you've had enough of that wine of yours. And if you," she looked at Eli pointedly, "say that you _are_ here for my dad then I'd be too disappointed and extremely insecure."

"Come on V, you know I'm here for you." The deputy beat his fist to his heart twice and flashed Veronica a peace sign, all while grinning at Veronica.

"Lorelai, Rory I would like you all to meet Deputy Eli Navarro." She introduced the cop to those who didn't know him.

"But he'll always be Weevil in our hearts." Logan stated empathically.

Lorelai and Rory shot each other puzzled looks. Luke quietly explained that Eli Navarro used to be a leader of a biker gang and that his street name was Weevil. But after graduating from Neptune High, the young man cleaned up his act and joined the police academy.

The rest of the party laughed heartily when Eli glared at Logan and Logan in turn mockingly acted terrified at the deputy's expression.

"By the way, Eli, I was hoping you could revoke Logan's license." Keith deadpanned.

"Sure thing Sheriff, it has to be a crime to keep on driving that yellow beast of his." Eli nodded in agreement as he took a bite of the chicken on his plate, which materialized since he sat down.

"Dude, first of all, the reigning Sheriff would not agree to that at all. Come on you guys, it's Leo for crying out loud. He's not revoking anything of mine anytime soon. Besides don't blame me for driving my SUV. It's Mr. Mars' fault. I asked him to pick me up, I had no particular car in mind and the X-terra was what he brought to the airport. And stop calling it the yellow beast." Logan protested vehemently.

"Yellow beast, that's a cool name for your car, man! Much better than the big bird or even the banana boat." Dick Casablancas countered.

"I thought you were my friend." Logan dramatically exclaimed.

"Are you sure you don't want to go into acting? Coz, I'm sure you can be crowned a drama king dude. Besides, I told you, it's cool." Dick calmly replied.

"What are you talking about? They maligned my baby."

"Seriously, after all these years that car is still the coolest. It can fit two surf boards and fit five people inside. That car is designed for fun, fun, fun." Dick recited as though he was used to saying those words over and over again.

"Hey, Mac, what exactly did you see in him?" Veronica cut the discussion about Logan's vehicle.

"Sometimes I wonder myself." Mac answered while shaking her head in wonder.

"Mac attack, you know very well why you LOVE me." Dick pulled his wife and enveloped her in his arms. Mac laughed at something he whispered and Rory can't help but think it was "ghost world".

"I won't stand for this. My car is precious to me and I don't care if anyone keeps on calling it names," Logan reviving the topic of his car.

"Man, you got to let it go." Wallace commented.

Everyone at the table was quiet. The topic of his car seemed to be very important to Logan. It was as though everyone knew instinctively that the topic switched to a more serious note from the previous light hearted banter.

"Do you know that you get good mileage with the Nissan X-terra?" Addy broke the silence as she drank from her glass of wine.

"Yeah, apparently you could actually get fifty miles per gallon. And the best part, is the back seat, am I right Logan, Veronica? Addy added shooting teasing looks at both Logan and Veronica.

"Adriana Arabella Townsend!" Jess, Keith and Luke all said in unison.

"Whoa! It's like all three of you practiced." Lorelai burst out. Luke shot her an irritated look.

Addy looked nonplussed at their reaction. She shrugged off their glares. Jess glared at his best friend, Veronica looked like she was debating on whether to be amused or horrified. Mac and Dick were both wearing expressions of disbelief, Eli was quietly laughing, and Wallace seemed amused by the turn of events.

Rory noticed that her mom was cajoling Luke to drop his death stare and Keith Mars was looking at Addy as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Rory's gaze finally settled on Logan himself who was smiling softly at Addy's direction. Then as if he felt someone staring at him Logan met Rory's eye and gave her what she felt was an I-told-you-so- look. She can't help but giggle.

"Now that I am the center of the attention, I so want to know why we were dragged out here two weeks before the actual wedding ceremony." And just like that it was as if the young woman said nothing to offend anyone, let alone inspire glares from the two authority figures and Jess. Rory can't help but admire the ability of the girl. At her words and the flash of a very innocent smile at everyone, it was as if she did not commit a social faux pas by bringing up past relationship between the bride to be and the groomsman.

Jess and Veronica both stood up at her words and started to address everyone in the room.

"The thing is you guys make up most of the entire wedding party. Veronica and I opted for the small intimate wedding." Jess stated as he intertwined his fingers with Veronica's, who smiled at his gesture.

"So we decided that we want this to be more than a casual affair. We want the wedding to be more than a gathering of people who barely know each other. All of you guys are important to us, so Jess and I agreed that a series of activities would make the wedding feel a little more personal." Veronica continued.

"It's not like we're going to be spending all of the two weeks as the Brady bunch, but there will certain times that we all be at one place at the same time."

"Like now for instance."

"Tomorrow we have nothing planned, but you all will be getting a copy of the itinerary. The most notable would be the trip to Catalina on Friday and we'll be staying there for three days. We'll be using the yacht of Mr. Richard Casablancas, a round of applause for his kindness please." The rest of them obliged.

"And we're actually wondering how Will and Richie will get here." Veronica directed her gaze at Luke and Lorelai. Apparently her mother and stepfather did not exactly think about that as well.

"I have no idea." Luke finally answered.

"I was thinking that maybe you can invite Emily and Richard, who can bring Will and Richie. They can use the private plane and then we won't have to worry about you going back and forth, unless of course you two prefer it that way."

"You've met my parents haven't you Jess? At the very least you've met my mother, when you had a black eye, which did not end well and the woman remembers everything. I don't think they'd accept a last minute invitation." Lorelai replied.

"Oh, the swan incident." Veronica smirked at Jess; he in turn pinched her cheek in mock consternation.

"I think they'll come if you tell them that Jason and Muriel Townsend would be there." Addy spoke up.

"Who?" Rory queried.

"They are the Massachusetts' Townsend, one of the richest families in America. The Gilmores happen to think very highly of them." Lorelai answered Rory.

"Yeah, but to me they are only mom and dad." Addy smiled at Lorelai, "Jess is actually their favorite adopted, except of course they did not really adopt him. So hopefully everything would turn out okay."

Her mother seemed to be trying to reconcile with the idea of her parents coming to Jess' wedding. But eventually she just shrugged and turned her attention back to Jess and Veronica.

"So there. I hope you guys will relax and enjoy your stay here in lovely Neptune." Jess' proclamation inspired guffaws from most of the young adult males and head shakes from the women.

"I think the occasion calls for a toast." Keith finally spoke after being silent throughout Jess and Veronica's speech.

"How about we get a sample from the patron of honor and the best maid?" Dick suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. Wallace walked over to Addy and the two conferred quietly. Addy laughed at something Wallace said and Wallace put his arm around her shoulder.

"Okay, we've come to an agreement and I have to say a disclaimer first. The speeches you are about to hear would not be the speeches at the actual wedding. Townie here and I have come up with three speeches. The best would be heard at the actual wedding and what you are about to hear are the worst of the bunch." Wallace started. There were catcalls and whistles which he took as the prompting.

"The first time I met Veronica I was taped to a flagpole, the word snitch written across my chest, thank you deputy for that by the way. The moment she helped me down I knew that our friendship would go the distance. There were times when I questioned my sanity whenever I think about our friendship, but most of the time I could actually declare myself as sane. Life with Veronica was never uneventful, I always had to break a few rules, commit a few misdemeanors. But ever since Jess, I have to say man, you made her boring. Or dare I say it, normal, which is perhaps the best thing to ever happen to Veronica. When I first heard that Jess proposed the first thought that popped into my head was awesome! Normal is finally the watchword." Wallace raised his glass to toast, "To Jess and Veronica; may you two lovebirds experience life to the normalest."

There was applause and Veronica smiled at Wallace tearfully.

"Normalest is not a word." Jess laughingly commented, "And you've got to be the first to accuse me of being boring."

"Worst of the bunch man." Wallace deadpanned.

Once everyone settled down once again Addy was up, front and center.

"The first time I met Jess was at a busy bookstore at New York. I was ten, he was fourteen. I barged into the store and I saw him. I assumed that he worked there and asked for the best book he ever read. He handed me the Old Man and the Sea I scoffed he scoffed and then he rudely informed me that it was the best book for my age. I rudely told him that I'm probably smarter than him, in turn. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. For years I never met anyone he ever dated, until Veronica. Jess was besotted the first time he met her and Jess never does besotted. The two of them together made the weirdest sense to me, but they made sense. When Jess told me that Veronica said yes I wasn't at all surprised. I was happy for Jess, for the condescending, broody friend of mine finally had someone who could actually stand him. But seriously, Jess, Veronica, I am happy for you, and I hope that you make the weirdest sense for always." Addy concluded raising her glass in the couple's direction.

"Here, here. To Jess and Veronica, the couple who make weird normal sense." Logan reaffirmed the speeches that Wallace and Addy made. Everyone raised their glass and burst out laughing.

AN2: So, as I said the chapter was hard to write, mostly because of Logan. I was hoping that I could resolve the question whether this fic would be a literati by reserving Veronica for Logan, thus giving Jess to Rory. Then Logan somehow convinced me that he's too pretty to be single in this fic, so now he is with Addy, making the plot harder to resolve as I thought. He also insisted that I write him and his issuesin more often, this chapter is the end result. Anyway, I still don't know whether this fic will end with a literati and LoVe,I was hoping it would, but the story has gone on a completely different direction. Maybe next time I won't listen to Logan and just take the easy way out, but then how fun could life be if we don't listen to our inner psychotic jackass? Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: This chapter is dedicated to LoVe23, who hasbeen my consistent lone reviewer. I myself am liking the Jess/Veronica pairing, this chapter is a reflection of that.As for theLogan Echolls and Rory pairing, that would require more thought.So anyway, on with the story...

Jess has been up since five in the morning. He can't help but feel that today was considerably better than yesterday already.

Jess decided to spend his nights in the room in the library rather than the other rooms that his house offered. Of course he would really rather sleep in his and Veronica's bedroom, but he actually prefers to be alive for the wedding so he opted to keep up appearances.

He actually asked Veronica why Keith was sleeping over, especially since her father owned his own house five miles away from their home. Veronica just tilted her head and smiled at him and Jess knew he had no choice but to sleep on the couch, metaphorically anyway.

After the group disbanded last night he headed for the library, where his single bed was waiting. At midnight he felt someone fall on top of him and it was none other than his favorite Mars, soon to be Mariano. He jokingly suggested that Veronica check the room for bugs, just in case her father planted one. Veronica apparently thought that her father would indeed plant a bug in the library to spy on his daughter and her soon to be husband. Jess was relieved when Veronica came up with nothing.

He and Veronica ended up fitting snugly in the single bed, but Jess always slept better with her by his side anyway.

Five in the morning and he was up. He usually went running with Addy whenever she was in town, but when he brought it up before she left last night she just told him that she did not feel up to it. But his body was used to waking up so early and so he tried to get up from the bed without waking Veronica up.

He went straight to their room to change and then to the kitchen. He figured that he might as well prepare a breakfast surprise for Veronica. Considering the stress that she had all day yesterday it was the least he could do.

When he asked her if Rory Gilmore, his first love, could come to their wedding he knew that despite answering in the positive, a wall started to build behind those beguiling blue eyes of hers. A wall that he has been trying to demolish before it became a permanent fixture in their relationship.

Her coming to him that night despite her father's warnings was a good sign. Jess knew Veronica well enough to know that she actually understands why he allowed Rory to be there in the first place, but it did not mean that she likes it.

It may have been selfish of him to do that but he really wanted Luke to be there. And if Luke comes, Lorelai had to be there as well, with Lorelai comes Rory. Jess released a heavy sigh. He loved Rory; he had to admit that he really loved her in the truest sense of the word.

But Veronica was the best surprise that he had in his life. From the first time they've met to the moment she said yes to his marriage proposal. And he can't help but be amazed with the fact that she seemed to feel the same way for him.

So he set about preparing her favorite breakfast: chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee. They usually do these things for each other, especially of one had a crappy day. That was why they worked; in a sense Addy and Wallace were accurate in describing their relationship, normal, weird but it made complete and total sense.

While he was putting all the food on a tray Luke picked that exact moment to walk into the kitchen. It was already six in the morning and Jess was going to Los Angeles for a meeting at one of the main office.

"Hey." Luke greeted him.

"And good morning to you too." He grinned at his uncle and was about to pick up the tray and bring it to Veronica. But Luke cleared his throat and Jess stopped his movements. He knew when Luke had something in his mind and without Jess' prompting it would take even longer and he really wanted this alone time with Veronica.

"Go on say it." Jess finally focused on Luke.

"I think you have to talk to Rory."

"Huh. Why?"

"Come on, don't be dense. You saw her last night, she was staring at you the entire meal." Luke seemed frustrated by Jess' monosyllabic response.

"Isn't she still with that blond, dick from Yale?" Jess asked back.

"Yes but-"

"No buts Luke. She's in love with him, she told me so herself. End of story. I'm marrying Veronica Mars. I'm in love with Veronica Mars. Rory is in the past, whether she likes it or not. Talking to her would not solve anything, if she has her issues with me those are her problem." Jess spoke like it was the end of that discussion.

"Did you actually think that Rory's looks last night went unnoticed? For gods sakes' Veronica used to be a detective, she's not stupid enough to believe that everything between you and Rory is resolved. You have to talk to Rory, before you marry Veronica." Luke insisted.

"I know that Veronica noticed. I'm not stupid. That's why I'm making her breakfast. I'm trying to make up for springing Rory on her."

"Look all I'm saying is that you have to tell Rory about Veronica, how you love her and stuff. Maybe if she hears it she will finally get it."

"I'll think about it."

"Don't think about it. Do it."

"God you're annoying."

"No you're annoying. Just do as I say."

"Luke, I'll talk it over with Veronica. If she's not comfortable with it I won't do it. If she says yes, then and only then will I have a heart to heart with Rory."

"Good enough for me." Luke nodded agreeably

'For a second there I felt like we were back in Stars Hollow and I was seventeen again." Jess shook his head at their exchange.

"I know! I was just about to say the same thing." Luke smiled at him.

"Well, I'm off to wake up my woman. Feel free to explore the kitchen. I'm sure Lorelai much rather eat something that you made. The maid starts breakfast at seven so you have half an hour to yourself." Jess picked up the tray and walked back to the library.

He walked across the library and into the room behind the curtain. He placed the tray on the desk beside the bed and sat down at the edge of the bed. He smiled at his sleeping girlfriend, turned fiancée and future wife.

"Stop it." His not so sleeping fiancée uttered sleepily.

"I think we just pulled a Bridget Jones' moment." Jess tenderly caressed Veronica's cheek.

Veronica opened her eyes and smiled at Jess as she yawned. "Am I dreaming or did you make a pop culture reference involving Bridget Jones' Diary?"

"No and yes I did, it must have been something I ate. Or it could be my beloved bride insists that Colin Firth is hot and had to subject her guy to constant marathons of said movie." Jess nudged Veronica to make room for him in the tiny bed. Veronica happily obliged, until of course she saw the tray full of food.

"You made me breakfast, awwww how sweet. What do you want?" Veronica stated as she pinched his cheeks and moved towards the food.

"Can't a man just make breakfast in bed for the love of his life?" Jess rolled his eyes at her words.

"Yes, but history dictates that Jess Mariano only makes breakfast in bed for said love of his life when he did something or is about to do something, she wouldn't really like." Veronica answered archly as she picked a piece of bacon from one of the plates.

"I just wanted to make your day better, at least better than yesterday." Jess stood from the bed and sat on the chair.

"Really, Jess? That's it. Trying to make up for the crappy day that was yesterday? Nothing to do at all with the fact that your old girlfriend seemed to find staring at you incredibly fascinating?" Veronica shot back.

"Luke told me you'd notice. Okay, he wants me to talk to Rory. Clear the air so to speak." Jess looked at her waiting for her to explode.

Veronica was quietly munching on the bacon and took her time to answer. "I think it's a good idea."

"What! You want me to talk to an old girlfriend of mine, my first love, who I've pinned for five years?" Jess burst out.

"When you say it like that it doesn't seem like a good idea." Veronica pouted, adorably in Jess' opinion.

"All I'm saying is that I don't want you to feel more uncomfortable with the situation. The idea is to have fun these last two weeks before the wedding. I don't want to taint the days with issues that Rory has with me."

Veronica grabbed a napkin from the tray, wiped her hands and got up from the bed and unceremoniously sat on his lap. Jess encircled her waist, securing her body to his. Veronica smiled at his gesture and lowered her head so their lips would meet. But then she stopped when their lips were inches away.

"All I'm saying is that you need to do this. Just so when the wedding day comes, you can say your I do with a clear conscience"

Jess ignored her words and kissed her. Veronica slipped her arms on his shoulders in attempt to bring them closer. One kiss led to another and somehow they ended up on the bed again, side by side.

"Works every time." Jess muttered into her neck.

Veronica pushed him away, smiling as she did, "What does?"

"Kissing you is one of the most effective ways to shut you up." Jess smugly replied.

"What's another way?" Veronica asked as she pulled Jess closer.

"I wouldn't know. I never needed another way." He charmingly replied.

Veronica laughed and pushed him away, once again focusing on her breakfast, she stared at Jess thoughtfully. Jess lounged at her and pulled her to his lap again. Veronica squirmed helplessly and Jess muttered her name warningly, she just giggled in reply.

"So…" Veronica began after a quiet settled over them as they ate their breakfast.

"So what"

"Will you talk to her then?" Veronica asked as she fed him some of the scrambled eggs.

Jess ate quietly and looked at his fiancée thoughtfully, "You know I will. With you and Luke in complete agreement I don't exactly have a choice. But just to be clear, I will only do it in my own terms; I won't have you or Luke breathing down my neck, okay?"

"But you like it when I breathe on your neck." Veronica teased. "Fine, agreed. Shake on it." Veronica held out her hand for Jess to shake.

Jess ignored her hand and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. Veronica rolled her eyes and the two of them continued their meal.

With breakfast done Jess started to make the bed while Veronica changed out of her pajamas.

"So it's seven now, I'm going to the office and then I'm heading to LA. You're going to Rodeo Drive right?" Jess asked as he cleared the desk as well.

"Yup. My appointment is at one. How many more fittings am I supposed to endure?" Veronica muffledas she put on a sweater.

"Till the big day I think. So I was thinking, maybe we could meet afterwards. My meetings would be over by three, you and I could hook up." Jess casually suggested.

"Hook up in a hotel somewhere in LA?" Veronica asked as she put on her earrings.

"Maybe a late lunch and _then_ a hotel." Jessraised his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"So you want me to bring Mac and quite possibly Lorelai and Rory to the hotel with me so we could all hook up." Veronica looked like she was desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

"Man, good way to put a man down." Jess grumbled.

"Maybe we can still hook up, minus the hotel anyway. Lunch?" she handed Jess the bag where she put all of her things, so he could put it somewhere it could remain unseen.

Jess groaned, "Lunch with four women? I'll be hopelessly outnumbered."

"And you are also hopelessly in love, so you know you would do it anyway."

"Okay, fine. But there better be compensation for me."

"Of course there will be. Thirteen days from now there will be tons of compensation."

Jess grinned happily as he held out his hand for Veronica to take, which she took without second thought.

"Jess, I- when you talk to Rory, can I get at least a warning." Veronica pulled at his hand, effectively stopping him from moving forward. Jess nodded as the two looked each other in the eye.

"And also, I love you Jess Mariano." Veronica added, at her words Jess enveloped her in a huge bear hug, she sighed in relief.

'I love you too, Veronica Mars soon to be Mariano." Jess whispered into her hair. Veronica looked up at him with a wane smile on her face. He repeatedly proclaimed his love for her until she couldn't help but laugh and do the same as well. The two left the room and started walking across the library.

"So is it going to be just Veronica Mariano or are you going to hyphenate?" the only response that Jess got was a startled laugh and an elbow to the stomach.

AN: Hope you enjoyed reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"He's avoiding me." Rory Gilmore declared morosely.

"No he isn't" Lorelai shouted from the closet.

They've been in Neptune, CA for the last three days. During that time Rory truly felt that Jess was avoiding her.

Lorelai called out to Rory to help her pick out an outfit. Rory rolled her eyes and proceeded into the walk-in closet.

"I really think he's been avoiding me." She insisted.

"Listen sweets, I really need to find something to wear, otherwise Luke will come barging in here and drag me in whatever I am wearing." Lorelai pleaded, trying to get her daughter to focus on the task at hand.

Rory picked out random clothing from the hangers before her and handed them to her mother.

"Luke loves you in this blue dress, the shawl will keep you warm in case it gets cold into the night and wear the earrings he gave youwhen you started dating and the necklace too. Wear you black stilettos and you're good to go."

"The student has surpassed the teacher." Lorelai proudly declared.

Rory flashed a real smile at her mother and then went back into the room to wait for Lorelai's grand entrance.

"So do you know where you're going tonight?" Rory was curious.

Tonight, according to the itinerary was couples' night, her mom and Luke, Mac and Dick, both insisted that they call them by their nicknames, Keith and Wallace's mom and probably Jess and Veronica were going out. The host and hostess arranged places for all couples to go to for the night. Of course, they neglected to arrange activities for those who aren't part of a couple or whose other half is MIA, since they did not exactly expect Rory to be there, Addy was in and out of town, Logan was constantly disappearing and Wallace was hanging out with his brother since his mom was going out with Veronica's dad.

"We got the dinner at LA. We're supposed to head to the airport; Jess said there's going to be a helicopter waiting to fly us out there." Lorelai answered as she exited the closet.

"Man, I think Jess is going all out to impress you." Rory commented.

"I know, private planes and helicopters, however will I go back to the dull life in Stars Hollow?" Lorelai mockingly asked in a Southern belle accent.

Rory smiled at her mom. It may be ten years to late, but she knows her mom actually likes the man that Jess has become.

"I don't think he's avoiding you babe. The days before a wedding are very hectic. He probably has a lot in his mind. Besides you guys talked last Monday when we met him in LA for lunch." Lorelai referred back to what was bothering her daughter since she was done worrying about what to wear.

"Yes we did, but he kept it at minimum." Rory complained.

"You can't really blame him hon, he was trying to entertain four women, one of which is his fiancée."

"I guess I can't." Rory sighed.

Her mom was right, Jess was so different now. He actually handled the said lunch pretty well, engaging all ladies in conversation, all while shooting looks at Veronica, that did not go unnoticed by Rory.

Rory got to talk to him a little bit when the other three went to the restroom and she declined to join them. He was relaxed and they talked about books as per usual. But when the three got back he returned to being a gracious gentleman.

Before they could go any further into the conversation Luke came barging in, just as Lorelai predicted.

"Lorelai-" Luke yelled.

"All done Luke Danes!" Lorelai cut him off. Rory smiled at the way Luke stopped in his tracks when he saw his wife.

"Luke weren't you in a hurry just a second ago?" his wife asked him teasingly.

Luke offered his arm to Lorelai and smiled briefly at Rory and started for the door. Rory stood up from the bed and walked out with them. She bade them goodbye and told them to have a good time, her mom shot her a look that said there won't be any doubt that they will.

With nothing else to distract her Rory wondered what she was supposed to do since everyone was gone. She decided to go to the library and look for something to read. She quietly entered the room and when she looked up she saw Jess sitting comfortably in one of the chairs and completely absorbed in whatever he was reading.

"Hey." she managed to utter.

Jess looked up and smiled at the sight of her, "Hey."

"Work related?" she asked while looking at the papers he was shuffling.

"Sort of, I like to keep track of the up and coming authors."

"Any good?"

"It needs more editing. The guy likes to use multi-syllabic words for simple things. But overall I think we're going to be publishing this."

"Not the next 'Great American Novel'? Rory asked smilingly.

"Hardly." Jess replied archly and returned her smile.

"So where's Veronica?" Rory looked at the direction of the curtain, as if waiting for her to come out from there.

"Sulking." Jess grinned almost to himself.

"Huh?"

"She's probably in the dark room, developing the pictures she took for the last few days."

"Why would she be sulking?" Rory was now thoroughly confused.

"Oh, she just got her grades from school." Jess answered vaguely.

"She didn't do so well?" she asked sympathetically.

"Oh, she did great. 4.0 all the way." This confused her even more.

"Why would she be sulking then?"

"I didn't buy her a pony." At Rory's facial expression he tried to explain. "It's a long running joke that Veronica will always want a pony. Hand her a gift, of any size and she'll guess it's a pony. I gave her a congratulatory gift for doing so well and she was, as per usual, disappointed that it wasn't a pony."

"Why don't you just give her a pony then?" to Rory it doesn't seem that big a deal, Jess could obviously afford it.

"First of all, she's not nine. And for another she doesn't know how to ride. It would be a poor investment. But really it's mostly for show when she does the guessing game. She just does it for a laugh." Jess explained easily.

"You have a dark room?" Rory switched subjects that Jess had a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah, an outdoor dark room, she loves photography. All of the photographs on the walls are her work." Jess stated somewhat proudly.

"She's very talented." Rory genuinely liked Veronica, as the days passed she can't help but feel somewhat in awe of her. From what she heard Veronica was an amazing junior PI in high school and an honor student. In college she upped her sleuthing skills by going after the people who would normally be untouchable.

Now she is completing her masters that would come in handy with her plans of becoming a crime scene investigator, Logan fondly called her 'little Miss Grissom' and Rory can't help but feel a little insecure at the blonde's achievements.

She was four years older, she had a job she loved, an amazing boyfriend by society's standard, but when compared to Veronica she felt like a loser.

"Yes, she is." Jess agreed, a fond smile gracing his face.

"So are you two going out tonight?" Jess looked surprised at her question.

"No, actually we'll be staying in."

"But according to the itinerary it's Couples' Night." Rory commented pointedly.

"Oh, that. As some of our guests are without dates for tonight, Veronica and I decided to stay in, _that is_ what excellent hosts do, you know."

Rory giggled at his mock condescension and Jess smiled in turn.

"So we'll be ordering massive amounts of food, Chinese, pizza; other food along those lines, Logan is in charge of the movies, but just in case I got the copy of his first movie, he filmed it during his junior year, he got most of the guys to act in it, and even Veronica had a cameo, it'll be an interesting night." Jess informed her.

"Are you in it?"

"Are you kidding? His powers of persuasion do not work on me, although it sometimes works on certain men." Jess looked thoughtful as he mentioned this.

"So he's not going to spend time with Addy?" she couldn't help but ask.

Jess eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You know about them?"

"Yeah, he kinda told me when we first got here."

"Huh. Probably to ward off any sexual advances." Jess jokingly suggested.

"From me?" Rory faked astonishment.

"Who am I kidding? Logan would never be one to ward off any sexual advances, too vain for that." The two of them looked at each other and burst into laughter. Once they settled down Jess picked up his phone and fiddled with it for a second. Then he put it down and focused on Rory.

* * *

"Eavesdropping Miss Mars?" Logan Echolls shot off as he approached the lady in question, who was staring blankly at the door of the library.

"Do you see me with my ear at the door? That's why you didn't get into detective school, you lack the brain capacity to process any form of thought." Veronica retorted.

"That's why? Here I thought it was because I was too good looking to fit in. Everyone was worried that I'd distract everyone else with my stunning looks."

Veronica snorted at Logan's response.

"Seriously, why are you out here and not in there?" Logan can't help himself.

"Jess sent me a text. Rory's in there with him. They're talking."

"You didn't do the air quotes so I'm assuming that they are actually talking in there."

"Yes." She resignedly replied.

"Come on buckaroo, cheer up. I'm ninety percent sure that Jess would choose you over her any day." He nudged her with his shoulder. She flashed him a grateful smile and decided that standing outside the door of where her fiancé and his ex-girlfriend were talking was pointless.

The two started walking towards the kitchen. Veronica went to the fridge and got two sodas and handed one to Logan.

"So tell me, does Addy like her at all? Veronica asked him using her trademark head tilt.

"Now why would you be asking me that?" Logan asked back.

"Come on Logan, you're not fooling anyone, Addy of course is cool as a cucumber, but you've become a softie in your old age. We all know about your nightly ritual of sneaking out since you got here, no matter how early you sneak back in. Have you not noticed the glares from Luke and my dad?"

"I've been meaning to ask about those looks. Are you sure they're not batting for your team? I know I'm drop-dead gorgeous and all but their looks are giving me the creeps."

"Ha ha. You know how they are, they think Addy is the most innocent girl and it seems they want her to remain that way." This time it was Logan's turn to snort.

"Is that your way of saying that she isn't?" she raised her eyebrows at his reaction.

"She really likes Rory; she's wondering what Jess even sees in you, when clearly Rory Gilmore is the love of his life." Logan switched the direction of their discussion.

"She did not say that." Veronica shot back through narrowed eyes.

"Fine! She doesn't like her at all. She thinks that Rory's treatment of Jess in the past does not even warrant the privilege of attending your wedding. But of course she would never say that to just anyone." Logan smirked at Veronica when he finished.

"You're right, it sounds like something she would tell Jess." Veronica declared triumphantly.

"Okay, okay. I just happen to come into the room as she was going through her tirade, with Jess smiling along as she ranted."

"She doesn't just dislike her does she?"

"I believe her words were trouble, with a capital T that rhymes with C that stands for, you know the rest. And I believe she learned that from you. Keith and Luke should be glaring at you for corrupting her."

"Come on, she did not say that. She wouldn't be so crude as to say that." Veronica grinned as she spoke the words.

"I've heard her talk about Rory before, you maybe right about her not being crude and all but something about Rory makes her so angry."

"So does that mean what I think it means?"

"Huh?"

"If Addy doesn't like her then the wedding is sure to happen."

"Are you seriously telling me that you think Jess would cancel the wedding if Addy preferred Rory over you?" Logan asked in disbelief.

"Well…"

"No! Not well…Veronica what the hell? Is this cold feet talking?"

"No- it's just that Addy isn't exactly my BFF."

"Yes, she's not, she's Jess' BFF and yours is Wallace." He declared hotly.

"I know that, but I just feel like she hasn't exactly forgiven me."

"You were there last Sunday, during dinner. She made that speech about you and Jess. And that wasn't the one she's going to make on your wedding day. Addy would never say anything that she didn't mean."

"Look, I know you're just trying to defend her but I just feel a disconnect whenever we talk."

"She's got a lot in her mind, managing a multi-billion company can do that to a person. Besides, Jess isn't a mindless drone that would follow her every command."

"But her opinion matters to him. They've been friends for years. Their relationship is the most constant thing in Jess' life; he wouldn't just discount what she says."

"That may be true but the same could be said about her relationship with Jess. Did you know I've been trying to get her back since senior year? But she only gave me a time of day when I got back in Jess' good graces. And she was never angry at you. She understood that the things that happened in the past had to happen, for us to get where we are today."

"I know all this. But it's Rory. Jess spent five years going back to her. And no matter it ended he always went back to her. Her running away; or saying no over and over again"

"But he stopped when he met you."

"Only because she loved someone else."

"If someone is worth fighting for, you'll always come back. Have you learned nothing from my inspirational messages? Their story has reached its conclusion."

"Is that your way of telling me that I am Jess true love? That I shouldn't doubt his love for me just because he is talking to his ex-girlfriend, which I wholeheartedly agreed for him to do? That maybe I should stop the insane thoughts going thru my head and just follow my instinct which is telling me that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to Jess' feelings for me?"

"Yes. Man I didn't know I was so deep and profound." Logan smiled at the end of her babbling.

"You're right. And your not deep and profound, you're as deep as a puddle and as profound as Kevin and Bean."

"Funny."

"Thanks."

"So did you take one look at Rory and thought that birds braided her hair too?"

AN: Okay, I hope you enjoyed reading. Just in case, Kevin and Bean are hosts for the morning show at KROQ, funny guys, but they don't exactly come off as profound. I guess I can safely say that this fic will not end with a literati, while I always felt that Jess is the one for Rory, the past season has shown me how it's never going to happen. Maybe that's why Rory isn't likable in this fic, I hated the way that Rory picked Huntzberger over Jess. Oh well, as I said, hope you enjoyed reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I took the liberty of making Rory a White House Correspodent. WHich would explain why she is at the nation's capital most of the time and also why she still lives in New Haven. Anyway, on with the story.

"Yeah, I love it. It makes me feel like I'm doing something." Rory responded enthusiastically.

"I bet you're good at what you do." Jess commented.

"I hope I am. I like being in the newsroom, the time crunch in the studio makes it even more exciting."

"I bet."

"How about you, are you still writing? I haven't seen a sequel to the 'Subsect', I have been watching out for any books you might have written." Rory inquired in turn.

"Actually yes, but I'm using a penname, J.M. Reynolds." Jess smiled sheepishly.

"You're J.M. Reynolds. I love those books." She commented excitedly.

"Thanks. I try." Jess smiled warmly at Rory's excitement.

"So, why J.M. Reynolds?" she asked him warily.

"Jess Mariano, Reynolds was Veronica's mom's maiden name. Seemed like a good idea." He shrugged as he answered.

The two remained quiet for awhile. They've been talking for the last half-hour, but neither one really seemed anxious to bring up anything personal.

"So Veronica?" Rory began

"Yeah…"

"She's great."

"I think so too."

"The first time I saw her I remembered Shane."

"Who?" Jess looked puzzled.

"You know Shane…the girl you dated before we got together."

"Oh, her name is Shane. I can barely remember her." He stated with a frown. Then his face expressed a look of understanding as he vaguely remembered a girl he dated just to make Rory jealous while she was with Dean.

"Yes, that Shane."

"Why did you think of her when you saw Veronica?" he was honestly at a loss.

"Because you know… Shane was blonde too." Rory answered hesitantly.

"She was blonde. Oh yeah, she was, wasn't she? And not all there." he gestured towards his head.

"She was okay I guess."

"But why would you think of Shane and Veronica? The two cannot be more different, besides I think Shane is what people call bottle blonde. Veronica is a natural blonde, all American girl all the way." He grumbled.

"How did you and Veronica meet?" Rory wisely switched topics at the disgruntled look on his face.

"Funny story, really. It was their sophomore year. I was visiting Addy and scoping out locations for business. Anyway, Addy asked me to meet her in this sleazy motel, The Camelot. When I got there she rented out a room and opened all the blinds of the windows and the door. She told me she was being followed and she had to teach her boyfriend a lesson. Then she told me to act like I was going to attack her. She released a piercing scream and Veronica came into the room and used her taser on me." Jess replied with a smile on his face, as if he was remembering also.

"She attacked you?" Rory asked incredulously.

"She thought Addy was in danger. Turns out Logan thought Addy was seeing someone else, so he had Veronica follow her and find out whom. Both Logan and Addy were both very sorry with the end result of their stupid ideas. And Veronica was so ashamed with what happened I had to resort to practically stalking her to get her to talk to me."

"Why did you do that?"

"Addy liked her." As if that was a good enough answer.

"And?" she prompted.

"I liked her the moment I saw her, not everyone would do what she did, even if it wasn't for real. She was this petite girl who had an action hero complex. So even after a week of following her all over Neptune she finally talked to me."

"And that's it, you guys became a couple and now you're going to have a happily ever after?" she looked unconvinced at his narrative.

For a second a flicker of sadness crossed his face, but it was gone so fast that Rory thought she imagined it.

"No it wasn't that easy. We had our moments of incredible stupidity, but we managed to overcome them and then yes here we are."

"Jess…"

"Yes Rory."

"About what happened five years ago…" Rory finally gathered the courage to the subject that had been torturing her since she came to Neptune.

"Forget about it Rory, it was no big deal." Jess pronounced, trying to dismiss the subject altogether.

"No I can't. I treated you badly. I was-"

"You are in love, and from what I've heard you are still with the same guy, seems you made the right decision." He looked away from her and at the door hoping that Veronica would miraculously materialize behind it.

"I'm sorry." A humbled Rory replied.

"No need to be sorry. You did the right thing. Besides, alls well, ends well."

"Did it really?" a depressed Rory asked mournfully.

"I'm happy Rory. Now I'm sorry if life is not working out for you as well, but don't use me as an excuse. I don't deserve that, just as I didn't deserve to be used five years ago, to get back on your cheating boyfriend." He stated in a matter of fact tone.

"I-"Rory was cut off by the opening of the door, revealing one disgruntled Logan Echolls.

"Dude, you have got to get out there. That fiancée of yours is getting on my nerves." Logan dramatically announced.

"Why, what did she do now?" Jess focusing his attention on him, relieved at the interruption.

"She refused to accept my input on what we should be eating while we have that marathon of ours."

"I'm out of that. You guys are the only ones who consistently fight over what to eat. Besides, she's my girl, she wouldn't let me down." Jess confidently announced. Rory was still trying to cover up her previous vulnerability.

"Just because you're sleeping with her doesn't mean she'll get what you want. Don't forget this is Veronica Mars we're talking about. The girl likes to be mean." Logan finished somewhat confused by the glare that Jess sent his way; he in turn gave him a questioning look. Jess gestured his head towards Rory whose eyes widened at the mention of Jess and Veronica's sex life.

"Look man, all I'm saying is Rory and I deserve some consideration in the decision making." Logan put his arm around Rory's shoulder, not taking it off despite the tension he felt when he put it there.

"Whatever Echolls." Jess dismissed him entirely and started for the door to find his mean fiancée.

"What! No fancy repartee, no witty come back, just a whatever Echolls, where is the real Jess?" Logan uttered sorrowfully with the shake of his head.

Jess did not bother looking back but merely flashed Logan his middle finger. With a slam of the door he was gone.

Logan guffawed at his action and then removed his arm around Rory's shoulders.

"So…" Logan looked at Rory awkwardly.

Rory gave him a weak smile and then headed for the door, leaving Logan by himself.

Logan shrugged to himself at her strange behavior. He did not have enough time to contemplate her actions because his phone rang; he smiled when he saw the caller ID.

"So, how's my favorite girl?"

"Girl, I see no girl here."

"Retract claws Addy. I'm merely trying to find out how you're doing." Logan replied, trying to tease away the tension that he could hear in her voice.

"I'm sorry Logan. I'm just a little tired. Jess picked the worst time to get married. And it's so crowded here in San Francisco." Addy apologized tiredly.

"It's cool. So when are you coming back here?" he was already looking forward to having alone time with her.

"I'll be there at eleven tonight. This publishing gig is too stressful; I don't know how Jess does it."

"Well, it's probably easier for him since he doesn't hate doing it." Logan stated simply.

"Probably. So I was thinking we could skip the entire Catalina thing and fly out to somewhere exotic, where no one can follow us." Her tone changed to cajoling.

"And where would that be?" Logan grinned in anticipation.

"Baja, California, not too far that we can make it back when they make it back from Catalina, what do you think?" Addy answered excitedly.

"That would be awesome. If only I didn't have the feeling that our presence is incredibly required in Catalina." Logan felt awful at having to decline the invite, particularly since he wanted to spend some time alone with his quasi-girlfriend.

"Why would our presence be so required?" Addy sounded forlorn at his statement.

"For one thing Veronica is still waiting for the other shoe to drop, she thought if you liked Rory, Jess would call the whole thing off. Then there's the matter of Rory secretly pining for Jess. And then-"

"Okay, I get it. But why would we want to be there, can't we just escape all the drama and figure things out?" Addy cut Logan off and mournfully pleaded with him.

"Bell, seriously it's not like you to run. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Jess would need his best friend to back him up." Logan logically explained.

"Fine. I'll be the best friend and go to that stupid trip to Catalina." Addy grumbled. Logan laughed at her reply.

"Hey, when you said figure things out, were you talking about figuring our relationship out?" the thought just came to him.

"Duh, but I guess we'll just have to postpone it in favor of being there for Jess and Veronica." Addy laughingly teased him.

"We could always figure us out tonight, or even when we go to Catalina.' He suggested hopefully.

"Nah, I can multi-task but I'm not really good at it."

"Come on Townie, I promise I'll be nice." Logan pouted through the phone.

"You're never nice Echolls, so don't make any promises. I'll see you tonight, try and get better at sneaking out. Wallace told me he saw you walking around two nights ago."

"Whatever, Veronica told me that everyone already knows I'm sneaking out, why bother hiding it?"

"Well, at least use the front door, security is being tightened at the house; we wouldn't want Eli busting you for breaking and entering?"

"No we don't. I don't want Weevil to have reasons to take me away." Logan wholeheartedly agreed.

"Okay, I have to go. I have a dinner meeting with this jackass author. The competition is doing a dance routine as well so we have to raise the stakes even more. I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight. Oh and Bell…"

"I know Logan, likewise."

With those final words Addy hung up and Logan had a huge grin plastered on his face. He should have said yes to the Baja getaway. He shook his head in regret, but then thought that maybe they can have the talk tonight.

* * *

"Okay, so Logan came in complaining about your lack of cooperation in the ordering business. Now I told him I had nothing to worry about since you're my girl and all." Jess said in greeting as he entered the kitchen, where Veronica was looking at all the take out menus.

"I already ordered your Kung pao chicken, beef and broccoli and an entire pizza with cheese only." Veronica replied.

Jess walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist; she in turn leaned on him and continued to peruse the menus.

"I knew you won't let me down." He murmured into her hair. She turned around and smiled up at him; he tightened his hold on her and rested his chin on her head.

"So, how did it go?" Veronica asked once the moment was over.

"Okay at first, then sucked after awhile." Jess replied as he released her from his grasp.

"Aw…poor baby." She cradled Jess face in her hands mockingly.

"I'm serious Veronica. She even compared you to Shane." Jess shook his head in amazement.

"Shane…wait a minute, did I hear that name before?"

"Yes, she was the bimbo I hooked up with when I was in high school."

"Oh, the bimbo, the one before Rory. Why would she compare me with that girl?" Veronica frowned as she asked Jess.

"Because she was a blonde too apparently." Jess answered tartly.

"Oh you mean, like just because we were both like blondes that we are like the same?" Veronica used her Valley girl tone.

Jess can't help but smile at her and she smiled back.

"So no progress?" she asked as she turned back to the menus.

"She tried apologizing for the past and then Logan came in." Jess sighed.

"Hmm…that Logan has impeccable timing."

"I was actually relieved. But that means there's going to be a part two."

"Well, just hear her out. Maybe the apology was the only thing bugging her."

"I don't think so. We talked about our careers first; it's obvious she loves her job. But I don't think she's happy with the rest of the aspects of her life."

"Why do you think that?" Veronica gave Jess an inquiring look.

"She barely talked about her relationship with the guy she's seeing. And from what I know about her job she spends most of her time in DC than at her house."

"Oh…Logan said her presence here may not have anything to do with you at all." She contributed. Jess gave her a skeptical look.

"He talked to Addy?" Veronica nodded at his question.

"Once she was done ranting over Rory being here, she told me that she doesn't think Rory is here to sweep me off my feet."

"She doesn't?"

"No, she thought it has more to do with the fact that Rory is just unhappy."

"She does seem a little sad; since she's been here she mostly stares at you."

"But maybe she's not really seeing me. Because if she did then…" Jess trailed off.

"She'd head for the opposite direction." She smiled teasingly.

"You think you're so funny, don't you Mars"

"I'd like to think so." Veronica gave him a dazzling smile.

"Ha freaking ha then."

"Come on, finish that thought of yours." She prompted.

"Fine, as I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted," Jess gave her a meaningful look, "if Rory could actually see me, and in turn see me with you, then she'd know that she has no chance whatsoever to try and come between us. After all we did have to overcome 'epic'."

"Now who's the comedian?" she shot him an annoyed look.

"So you can give it but you can't take it?" he teased.

Veronica just ignored him in favor of the menus. Jess pulled her him but she kept to her reading. He hooked his fingers to her belt loops and tugged to get her closer. He then wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. The menus dropped from her hands and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The two shared many a heated kisses, and were completely absorbed in each other.

"Geez! Dude, making out in the kitchen, that's just not right." Logan proclaimed loudly as he saw the two going at it. The two merely looked up but did not separate.

"Seriously, I'll have to gouge my eyes out after seeing you guys. Man, what if it had been Keith and not me walking in on you two?" Logan wagged his finger at them disapprovingly.

Veronica giggled as Jess nuzzled her neck, neither one of them paying any attention to Logan.

"Break it up. No more of that disgusting display. We'll head to the family room and watch movies. The two of you will be sitting at the opposite sides of the room." Logan walked towards them as if he was going to actually separate them himself.

Jess looked at him and finally disentangled himself from Veronica, but kept his arm around her waist.

"For that we're definitely watching your first movie ever." Jess shot off.

"Whatever dude, anything to keep you two from groping each other in front of me." Logan smirked in return.

"The food's going to be here soon, where are the movies?" Veronica asked Logan.

"It's in the family room already, I set everything up. By the way I'll be taking off at eleven."

"Addy's coming home?" Jess asked Logan.

"Yes finally. I felt like I haven't seen her at all since we got here." Logan sighed dramatically.

"Oh you mean aside from all the times that you sneaked out to spend the night with her." Jess smirked at him.

"Or during the first night everyone got here and the two of you were late for dinner. Good call in coming in separately by the way." Veronica contributed.

"You two really deserve each other. Mocking me like that, when the two of you actually get to act all lovey-dovey." Logan shot the two an annoyed look.

"We do not act all lovey-dovey." Veronica returned crossly.

"You're lucky she even spends time with you at all." Jess commented cryptically.

"Now what do you mean by that?" Logan retorted a little defensively.

"What he means is that since Jess was off work for the rest of the month Addy got stuck with the publishing job, which we all know she positively despises; that and the fact that the fiercest competitor of the company is trying to arrange a meeting with the head. Jess agreed to do it didn't you Jess?" Veronica looked at Jess expectantly.

"But apparently I'm not the owner that they wanted to meet. I think they are actually resorting to hiring Vinnie to find out if Addy is here." Jess looked thoughtful as he said this.

"I know all that. Why do you think Addy and Weevil came in together last Sunday's dinner? Addy tells me these things too. The security back at the house is being tightened already. But I didn't know the Vinnie part." He admitted quietly.

"Keith just told me about that possibility, thus the security. I told Addy that I would handle it but she told me she has it under control."

"Why doesn't she just meet the competition anyway?" Veronica can't help but ask.

'The competition is the family that the Townsends' have a feud with." Jess explained curtly.

"Ah…the rich and their feuds, you think theirs is a Romeo and Juliet kind?" Veronica jokingly asked.

"Do you know about that feud?" Logan inquired trying to get it out of Jess.

"I do. But it's not my place to discuss it." He replied tersely.

The three got quiet after Jess' answer.

"Why don't we get this night started?" Veronica suggested brightly.

The two men exchanged amused looks and both nodded at her suggestion. The door bell rang and Veronica ordered the two to answer it while she fetched Rory so the festivities could begin.

AN2: Hope you enjoyed reading. Now I've thought about this a lot. The plot of this story is basically about Jess and Veronica. But I have decided tha this will be a Rogan as well, Rory and Logan...Echolls, blame LoVe23 for that btw. I kept turning the idea over and over in my head and I really started to like it. So I figured I might as well inform anyone who's reading this fic of the newest pairing. Kudos to LoVe23 for that.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Thanks for those who reviewed my story. Here's another dose of Lifetime. I think I have to warn you that there will be two profanities. That said, on with the story.

Everyone in the limo was quiet. Not one can meet another's gaze.

"I'm sorry guys. I didn't know she was going to be there." Dick Casablancas apologized for the nth time.

"I told you to make sure that she won't be there." His wife replied acidly.

"You know I don't respond well to nagging." Dick rolled his eyes at Mac.

"Well maybe if you did then we wouldn't have spent three days in hell." She bitingly replied.

"Come on Mac, it wasn't that bad. We did have a little fun and Jess did not get seasick." Veronica piped in, trying to diffuse the tension.

"I do not get seasick." An annoyed Jess responded.

"I don't see why anyone is getting their underwear in a twist. We got to spend three days in an amazing house. It's like an all access pass to the rich and famous." Lorelai stated giving Veronica a supportive smile, which the younger woman returned gratefully.

"Oh yeah, walking in on Kendall while she was banging some random dude, finding out that we can't use the yacht and then finally having to spend the time while Logan is acting like an ass, that defines my perfect three day weekend." Wallace proclaimed, Veronica shot him a glare and he merely shrugged.

"Look I don't see what dwelling on it will do any of us." Luke was the voice of reason.

"Luke's right. We still had a little fun, despite the bad start." Rory chirped brightly.

"Tell that to Logan. Did you see how red he got when he found out that we had to beg for a place to stay with Addy's ex?" Jess can't help but chuckle.

"That was classic. How about the number of times he kept muttering under his breath? I think he was saying Baja over and over again." Lorelai joined in.

"You guys are so mean." Veronica said helplessly.

"This is why he didn't want to ride back to the house with us." Mac laughingly commented.

"You mean aside from the fact that wanted to fight with Addy in private?" Dick contributed.

"It's pure luck that your dad wasn't there Veronica. Otherwise it would have been awkward." Mac gave Veronica a wry smile.

'Tell me about it. Dad we can't use the yacht because Kendall is doing a random dude. We have to look for a place to stay, oh look, isn't that Martin? How about we ask Addy's ex if we could spend three days at his place? Oh is that Logan looking like he swallowed a chili." Veronica giggled uncontrollably.

Jess rolled his eyes at Veronica's hysterics. Luke seemed amused while the rest of the passengers laughed uncontrollably as well.

"The best part was seeing Jess try surfing." Lorelai picked on their host.

"Do you always fall five times before actually getting it right?" Luke teased his nephew.

"Oh then there was Jess' expression when he finally got a good wave." Dick can't help but join in the Jess bashing.

"I know I totally captured it on film." Veronica added.

"How about Luke, he tried to surf when everyone else was sleeping." Lorelai smilingly contributed. Luke glared at his wife and shrank back in his seat.

"I know. We all heard you two sneak out. I woke everyone up and we sneaked out with you." Rory looked anything but contrite and Luke shrank back even further.

"I'm sorry Luke, I broke under peer pressure." Jess grinned helplessly at his uncle.

"And I'm sorry if I happen to have a camcorder on hand." Veronica gave him a wry smile.

"And I'm sorry if I allowed Lorelai and Rory to convince me that sending the video to Stars Hollow residents was the best idea since sliced bread." Mac actually managed to look guilty.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore-Danes!" Luke looked like he was ready for murder. The younger passengers were all trying to control their laughter. Rory couldn't help herself and just started laughing, breaking everyone's control in the process.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore!" Luke turned to Rory as he said her name effectively stopping her laughter. Rory looked thoroughly chastised as Luke calmed down under his wife's touch.

"Come on Luke, it's all in good fun." Wallace commented good-naturedly.

Luke rolled his eyes and smiled tentatively, and ended up laughing louder than the rest of the passengers.

* * *

"Hey." Jess looked up from his book as he saw Rory enter the library. 

"Hey." Rory greeted back.

"Feeling restless too?" he asked her as she took a seat across from him.

"Yeah. But this weekend was really fun." She smilingly replied.

"It was fun wasn't it? The ride back seemed like a good end to the trip." Jess nodded as he said those words.

"Is Logan back yet?"

"No, they probably took the back streets of Neptune."

After a long stretch of silence Jess picked up his book and returned to his reading.

Rory thought back on their trip to Catalina and can't help but think that Jess and Veronica weren't as in love as she first thought. The two weren't acting like a couple, aside from a touch here and there. They don't call each other any pet names. If it hadn't been for Logan's comments in the library she would never have thought that the two even have a sex life. This convinced her even more that maybe she was on this trip to get Jess back.

"Jess…" Rory had a determined look on her face.

So we're doing this now. Jess thought as he put his book down as he saw her game face. He remained quiet, waiting for her to start.

"Why do you love her?" Rory got straight to the point.

"What do you mean?" Jess was purposely being difficult. He knew that Rory was going to ask him that question eventually; he wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"Why do you love Veronica?" she asked simply.

"Why do you want to know Rory?" Jess sighed heavily.

"Because she doesn't seem at all your type; and the two of you don't even act like a real couple at all. So why her? Out of all the women in the world why do you want to marry her?"

"What exactly is my type?"

"I don't know…" Rory faltered as she replied.

"Just because I don't publicly grope her doesn't mean we're not a real couple. We're getting married for Christ sake's. And I'm marrying her because she is the only Veronica in this world." Jess matched her question for question.

"I just want to know Jess, why do you love her?" Rory knew she sounded like she was pleading.

"Why Rory, why do I have to justify my relationship to you; when I did not ask you to justify yours when you picked Huntzberger over me?" Jess was getting a little impatient.

"I- because you loved me for years. Because despite everything that we've been through; you always managed to make me feel a number of emotions at once. You were there to push me back to Yale when I stopped believing in myself. Because you loved me even when I continued to push you away and now you love her. How does that happen? How did you stop loving me?" Rory tearfully asked a stoic Jess.

"Was I supposed to love you forever? Was I supposed to pin away for you while you get to live a happily ever after?" Jess retorted flatly.

"No-" Rory was horrified.

"You picked someone else. Did you want someone waiting on the sidelines just in case the bastard cheated on you again? Did you want me to be there just so there would be a person on the outside looking in? Did you want me to run away with you and then you'd dump me the second that jackass of a boyfriend of yours decides that he wants to make an honest woman out of you?"

Rory flinched as he verbally lashed out on her.

"Well I have news for you Rory; the universe does not revolve around you and your choices in life. I did not come to Neptune four years ago expecting to find someone else. I came here to see a friend, Veronica completely blindsided me. I loved you for five years; the last thing I wanted was to fall in love again, especially since I was burned three times by the same woman." Jess quietly murmured, trying to rein his anger in.

Rory felt that this confrontation was a long time coming; she did not exactly expect Jess to keep in touch when she chose Logan over him, but she had hoped that he would. She thought he was her friend, was it so selfish to think that she would always have him in her life? But five years have passed; it was time to resolve everything, even if it meant breaking someone's heart. She held Jess' gaze defiantly, as though challenging him to say more.

"Did you ever think that I just got tired of loving you? That one day I woke up and told myself to just stop. Unrequited love is not romantic, it's stupid. You once told me that you may have loved me, MAY Rory! I did love you; I told you I loved you. But I stopped, because you picked someone else. This time it wasn't me. Maybe it was for my own sanity that I just stopped."

"Did you ever think that maybe I just needed time; that my relationship with Logan had to run its natural course? After all these years I waited for you to come back. But you never did, not the wedding or the twins' birthdays. You never came. You never found out that I wanted you to come back." Rory angrily replied.

"Yeah, being used to get back on your boyfriend just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, enough to make me want to come back for more." He sarcastically countered.

"You said you knew me. If you really did then you would have at least tried harder. The way I remember it you made me fall for you even when I was with Dean. Old age got to you? Not man enough to fight for what you want anymore?" she angrily fought back.

"Fight for you? Are you fucking serious?" Jess looked at her incredulously. "All throughout our relationship I've fought for you. I fought Dean, your mom, hell the entire town of Stars Hollow was in the ring with me. I kept coming back for more, I told you I loved you, I asked you to run away with me, you said no, like a fucking broken record. Then I come back to see you with some preppy prick, who insulted my very existence. It still wasn't enough, I go back for more and this time you let me kiss you and then you inform me that you would only be trying to get back at that prick if anything did happen between us. So pardon me if I'm not man enough to fight anymore." He sardonically replied.

"You ran away first. That's your trademark Jess. You ran away when you can't deal with your problems in Stars Hollow. Then you told me you love me and you weren't even man enough to wait for my reply. You asked me to run away with you and you expected me to drop my life for you. Was I supposed to believe that history won't repeat itself and you won't run the opposite direction when you can't deal with me?" Rory bitterly asked.

"If we hurt each other so much what are we doing here?"

"I don't know."

"I love Veronica."

"You keep saying that, all I want to know is why."

Jess sat back on his chair, throughout their exchange the two were standing like combatants. Sitting back on his chair he leaned his head back, closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Why? Why do I love Veronica Mars? She's a combination of innocence and cynicism. Veronica has been through a lot in her life. More than I can imagine. But despite everything she still manages to wake up every morning and greet the world with a smile."

Rory sat down and listened to Jess intently. She knew certain details of what happened with Veronica, that she solved the murder of her best friend, as well as a bus crash that happened five years ago but that was about it.

"She's been broken too many times to count, but she always manages to put herself back together again. She opened my heart again. The first time I saw her I knew, I want her with me for the rest of my life." Jess opened his eyes and looked at Rory directly in the eye.

"I love her because of who she is, not who she isn't. I never thought of Veronica taking your place in my heart Rory. But she made my heart whole again. Don't get me wrong, our relationship was never easy. I had to fight for her too. Four years ago she broke up with me and she went back to Logan Echolls. I understood why she broke things off with me, we were moving too fast. The first month of dating I told her I love her and she said it back, Veronica has always had issues with saying those three words back to men she had relationships with, but she never made light of our feelings for each other, to her that made our relationship scary. When we broke up I went back to Philadelphia and waited. I knew what I had to do, six months later she flew to New York and I took her back. Our story was less dramatic than yours and mine or hers and Logan's; our story could never be described as epic. But I knew that I wouldn't want to lose her for my life and she wouldn't want to lose me for hers." Jess quietly concluded.

"I don't know what to say." Rory whispered into the air.

"You asked me why I love her. If I had to make a list I'd make encyclopedias." Jess added, trying to inject some humor in their exchange.

"So I guess asking you not to marry her is out." Rory smiled weakly at him.

"If I don't follow through I'd have the rest of her friends tracking me down, a father who would know how to dispose of a body and Veronica herself who can kick my ass to next Tuesday." Jess smiled fondly at the thought.

"I'm sorry if I'm questioning everything about you and Veronica."

"To tell you the truth I expected as much."

"I really had myself convinced that I was here to get you back."

"Maybe you're here to get yourself back. I know whatever comes out of my mouth about Huntzberger would sound like I was jealous, but I never really like his effect on you."

"Explain." She turned to him patiently.

"Think about it Rory, since the first time that Huntzberger entered the picture you put yourself in a no strings attached relationship, then you stole a boat and dropped out of Yale, then there was a rift between you and Lorelai, had he really known you he would have told you to fix it the second it happened. Once you got your life together he cheated on you, he claims you were on a break, but seriously Ross and Rachel got nothing on you. And here you are now, seven years later and you haven't moved forward. Have you ever discussed marriage?" Jess asked delicately, as if it was not his place to pry.

"There was one time, five years ago. We've been living together for the last four years."

Jess gave her a sympathetic look. With their issues out of the way it was as though they were actually treating each other as friends.

"I was supposed to spend these two weeks with him, but he got called away to London. I told myself I have to ask him where he sees us in another five years. But the thing is I don't think I love him anymore." Rory admitted guiltily.

"Then why are you with him?"

"Convenient, less expensive. I could think of a lot of reasons why I'm with him, but none of it would be because I still love him."

"Then maybe it's time for a change."

"Maybe it is." Rory shot Jess a rueful smile.

* * *

Jess closed the door to the library quietly and went looking for Veronica. He found her outside the house, locking up the dark room. He walked towards her and when she saw him she flashed him a huge smile. 

"Let's get out of here." He grabbed her hand and walked back into the house. Veronica looked at him quizzically but tried to match his pace anyway.

They got to the foyer and Jess picked up the car keys lying on the table. He opened the front door and saw Logan's car park haphazardly in the car port. He hit the clicker and the car was unlocked. He walked Veronica to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Once she was settled in he walked to the driver's side and the two peeled away from the house.

Veronica watched Jess as they navigated through the streets of Neptune. When they entered the freeway Veronica wondered where they were going. She could see his on grip the steering wheel was a little too tight, his knuckles were turning white.

"So where are we going?" she finally asked him.

"Anywhere, everywhere." Jess suavely replied.

Veronica shook her head in exasperation. She decided to just see where it goes. It was unusual for Jess to behave the way he was behaving.

It was half an hour later that they pulled in a secluded beach. Understanding dawned on Veronica; this was a place that she and Jess agreed to have serious talks. Jess got out of the driver's seat and went to her side of the vehicle, opened the door for her and helped her get out.

The two walked hand in hand. Jess stopped them just short of touching the water and turned to Veronica.

"I don't think we can get married."

* * *

AN: I didn't actually want to do a cliffhanger but it seemed to happen that way. So sorry if I did it anyway, brightside, I finished the next chapter so there won't be a long wait. It may appear that Jess and Rory acted weird after their screaming match, but I always thought that if only they get all of their issues out of the way they can become actual friends, oh well.. On the other hand I am currently riding high in the cloud nine, after reading updates on Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars not one fan can help it. I am just so damn happy and excited for fall to get here. So I have messages for those kind enough to review: 

Problem Child1 : I too am a LoVe shipper. I almost died when Logan referred to his and Veronica's relationship as epic. And I'm glad you like my story, these two shows are my faves as well. As for making Rory a spinster and GG Logan dying, I already sort of promised LoVe23 a Logan Echolls and Rory Gilmore ending and the storyline is already in the works. Thanks for the review.

tylerhiltongrupie53 : Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story.

troubledpenguin: You are right. I write a wimpy Rory, perhaps it has more to do with the fact that I really don't like her characterization for the last two seasons. I was watching Gilmore Girls more for the Luke and Lorelai action. But don't worry Rory still has a backbone, her life for the last five years in this story has made it less obvious. You'll see the appearance of the said backbone once the story progresses, especially if she is going to be paired with Logan Echolls, which I am writing in this fic. That said I appreciate the review, it may be because of your comments that made Rory in this chapter a little stronger.

LoVe23 : To my favorite reviewer. I'm glad you're happy. I always look forward to your comments so thanks again. I hope you enjoy the direction the story is going and that your comments will always be welcome.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I figured since I was finished with the chapter I might as well post it already. This is mostly because of the worry that this might end up as a literati. But I'll let everyone be the judge so read on...

"I don't think we can get married."

When Jess said those words the only thing that was running through Veronica's head was a loud buzzing. She looked at him in confusion but did not let go of his hand.

Jess smiled at her and she frowned at him.

"Okay." Was the only word out of her mouth.

"I think we should elope."

"Okay. What do we need to bring?" Veronica asked him, to indicate that she was game for anything.

"Well we need you and me of course. And Luke."

"And my dad, he'd kill us if he missed this."

"Then of course Addy has to be there or she'll revoke my BFF status, with her will be Logan."

"If you get to take Addy then I'll have to take Wallace. And if Logan knows then Dick will know and Mac will be hurt if we don't ask her to come with us."

"Then of course with Luke will be Lorelai and Rory, my sisters and cousins can't miss it either."

"Oh and if your cousins have to come that means the Gilmores are going to be there as well."

"And the only way we're getting the Gilmores is if we have Uncle Jason and Aunt Muriel in attendance."

"Then we'll have the largest elopement ever." Veronica commented wryly.

"It'll defeat the purpose."

"Might as well follow through with the wedding."

"I guess so."

"Gee thanks for being so enthusiastic."

"I'm not the one who used to be in pep squad."

"Oh right that was me, but seriously where is this entire thing coming from Jess?" Veronica let go of his hand and finally refused to avoid the issue.

"Nothing. I was just thinking if we had eloped then we would be married already." He answered vaguely.

"Wrong answer. Try again."

"Veronica."

"Jess."

"I love you, you know that."

"I do."

"Did you ever think that maybe this thing," he gestured between them, "us, was so easy?"

"Easy?" confusion etched on her face.

"When I was in the library with Rory we practically enumerated all the things we've done to hurt each other. Then I thought about you and me. I felt like our relationship came too easy, not enough angst, not enough drama."

"They don't write songs about the ones that come easy." Veronica muttered quietly.

"Exactly, I mean what you and Logan had can't even compare to what we have here."

"Are you trying to tell me something Jess Mariano?" a trace of impatience laced her voice.

"No-"

"Are you saying that maybe this thing…us doesn't seem so worth it just because we didn't hurt each other as much as you and Rory hurt each other or Logan and I hurt each other?" she mimicked sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Jess feeling a little impatient himself.

"Because if that's what you're saying then you would be wrong, completely wrong."

The two looked at each other and the let their gazes drift off somewhere else. A long quiet ensued, a silent acknowledgment of the fact that they never really discussed the root of their reconciliation. They mostly allowed it to be buried and untouched for the last three years.

"Going back to you was the hardest thing I ever had to do." Veronica quietly began. Jess focused on her and her words, finally ready to hear what she had to say about their momentary lapse of judgment.

"Breaking up with you seemed easier, because I could not bear the thought of losing you any other way at least then it would have been on my terms. I figured if we could be that happy and in love in the span of six months the heartbreak would be all the more excruciating and it would take me a lifetime to get over you. The only reason why Logan and I bothered to give our ill-fated relationship another go was because we were both feeling so empty and broken; remember he and Addy broke up too?" Jess took her hand again as she looked at him as though asking him to understand why she turned to Logan after their breakup.

"But we decided our hearts weren't in it so we stopped seeing each other within a month. I've wanted to go back to you. But you left Neptune and I allowed that to stop me from being with you." Veronica bowed her head in shame.

"I've wanted to come back for you, you know? There were times that I almost hopped on a plane and begged you to take me back. But I knew you had to want to come back to me." Jess lifted her chin so they could see eye to eye.

"I saw Addy about three months later and she told me I was a fool for letting you go. And then she walked away from me. Her words stayed with me and I kept going back and forth with the idea that maybe the breakup didn't have to happen. But then again running away has always been my specialty. Until you. Maybe I overanalyzed it and allowed myself to be consumed by my fear. But I didn't want the what ifs to bite me in the ass, so I called Addy, I figured it was easier to get to the source and I half-expected her not to tell me where you were." Her gaze never wavering from his.

"I told her to tell you if you ever called." Jess said quietly.

"What?"

"I told you it wasn't easy for me to wait for you to come back to me. So I thought might as well cover all the bases and make sure that if you ever decide that you want me in your life you won't have a hard time finding your way back to me. Of course, I also wanted to know if you did contact her, I gave her specific instructions to tell me if you called."

"But the surprise on your face when you opened the door seemed genuine."

"It was; I felt my heart drop when I saw you standing before me. The rat never did tell me that you were coming. When I asked her about it she told me it would add a dramatic flair if I didn't know you were coming." Jess shook his head in amusement.

Veronica smiled then, "I didn't know until today that she was rooting for us."

"Do you want to know the truth?" Jess pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her; he felt her nod against his chest, "Addy always rooted for us. She told me when we first started going out that she has never seen me smile so much in my life let alone talk."

"Yeah, she alluded to that fact, monosyllabic Jess." She nudged him.

"I was happy, I am happy. And maybe what we have seemed so much easier than any of our previous relationships, but maybe this is cause for celebration rather than worry." Jess felt like he could breathe easier.

"Well you're the one worrying about it." She accused him playfully.

Jess held her in his arms tighter and made her look at him directly in the eye, "We never really discussed the events that led to our reconciliation, we kind of took it for granted. I want you to know that the very next day we got back together I went to Tiffany's and brought this." He pulled her left arm from his neck and touched her engagement ring.

"You did? But you only proposed to me a year ago." Veronica looked surprised at his confession.

"I had it with me all the time. I was always waiting for the right moment."

"The right moment was after my graduation?"

"I couldn't wait anymore. I wanted you in my life for always."

"Aw, sweet." She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Jess moved his head so their lips would meet and kissed her hungrily. Veronica responded with the same ferociousness. It was as though their talk reinforced their feelings for each other. When they parted both were breathing heavily, Veronica smiled at Jess teasingly.

"Good to know I can still make you breathless." She murmured against his shirt.

"You make me breathless alright; I would need an endless supply of oxygen if I'm to be beside you for the rest of my life." He teasingly commented.

"Just make sure I have my own supply, because you leave me breathless too." She retorted happily.

"I don't think I can pass this chance to mock us. We are too sickeningly sweet."

"True that. I'm just glad it's just us when I said those words. I'm not sure I can hold my head high ever again if someone else heard it." She giggled.

The two walked hand in hand by the beach until the sun was about to set.

* * *

It was dark when they both decided that it was time to head back home. They walked towards Logan's car. Next to it was Veronica's LeBaron, with its top down. Sitting by herself was Addy. She opened the door when she saw the two approach.

"So…" Addy prompted, she was holding two cups of coffee, presumably for the engaged couple.

"So what?" Jess asked back.

"Come on Jess, people don't drive off without a good reason." Addy looked at Jess and then at Veronica, waiting for an answer.

"We had a good reason." Jess replied dismissively.

"Why are you driving my car?" a puzzled Veronica interrupted the staring contest that the two friends were having.

"Oh, that. I had to look for you guys since Logan was going insane with worry." Addy answered dryly.

"Was he worried about us or about his precious banana boat?" Veronica can't help her ironic smile.

"What do you think?" Addy asked as she handed them their coffees.

"Ah…of course he was worried about the yellow beast." Jess stated as though it was the only answer.

"Well of course he was, we just got back from the longest ride of my life and we were going to take everyone out for dinner. He parked the car and we were just looking for you two when we saw the door wide open and the Xterra MIA." Addy shook her head in disapproval.

"It was the most accessible car at that moment." Jess defensively replied.

"Did he freak out?" Veronica winced in anticipation of her answer.

"Define freaking out; do you mean cursing the both of you to a lifetime in hell or promising to set the entire house in fire? Or both?" Addy asked expectantly. "I had to take him to Rory and ask her to calm him down. I knew you two went here so I had to take my time in finding you guys; Logan called me five times in the last hour, so I lied to him and said I couldn't find you. So I stopped at The Hut, thus the coffee and then I managed to read five chapters of Brothers Karamazov and now I'm here. I figured that Logan needs time to cool down before you guys make an appearance." She shrugged as she was done.

"You lied to Logan?" Jess looked like he was finding it hard to believe, he and Veronica shared a look.

"Out of everything I said that's what you focus on. You better give me the keys to the Xterra; otherwise he'd freak more if he sees you driving his baby." Addy sighed in exasperation.

"Are you sure it's safe to go back?" Veronica asked quizzically as Jess handed Addy the keys to the car. Jess took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I know that his mom picked the car for him when he turned sixteen, but the way he is obsessed with it is too much." Jess remarked.

Neither women seemed to want to take on his remark but Addy glared at him and punched him on the arm.

"What was that for?" Jess glared at her in return.

"For being an insensitive jerk." Veronica stated simply, Addy nodded in agreement.

"Okay, okay." Jess held his hands in the air in mock surrender, "I'm sorry I took his car. I'll apologize to him when we get back and even promise to make sure that you, Adriana Townsend, finally make your relationship official."

"You wouldn't dare." Addy responded through narrowed eyes.

"Oh I so would." Jess replied mockingly.

"What are you in high school?" she bickered back.

"Why don't you want to make it official? He's constantly spending the night with you; why not make it an actual relationship?" Veronica cut through the banter of the two best friends, but the two mostly ignored her and stuck their tongues at each other childishly.

"I swear I won't hesitate to give you two a time out if you don't behave." She had to resort to threats to finally get their attention; the two looked at her and burst into laughter.

Once they settled down Addy told them that she's driving back and to give her a fifteen minute head start, that way she'll have a few minutes to make sure that Logan is no longer ready for bloody murder.

"Oh by the way," she turned back to face the couple, "The Gilmores and the twins are arriving later tonight. And Logan Huntzberger is with them." Then she entered the car and waved goodbye, leaving a bewildered Jess and Veronica.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger sighed in exasperation. Granted he wasn't expecting to be welcomed home by Rory's open arms, but he was at least looking forward to a full night's sleep. But to find out that the said girlfriend was across the country was the last thing he expected.

Not once in their phone calls did Rory Gilmore bother to inform him that she was in some hick town in California, attending a wedding. And to find out from his girlfriend's grandparents as an afterthought was maybe what hurt the most. He knew their relationship has been rocky to say the least, but he expected to at least know where she was. It was her junior year all over again.

Logan sighed again as he took in his surroundings, a luxurious plane flying across the country about to join his girlfriend, not really sure if he is wanted in the first place.

The terror twins finally calmed down after Richard Gilmore insisted that they watch an old episode of some backyard hooligans something show. Emily was sitting with the twins as well; it was obvious that the two adored their grandchildren. This made him even more uncomfortable, they've remarked that this was a family event; he didn't even know that Rory had relatives in California.

He got home late last night from London. He thought he could call Rory the next morning and ask her to come home from her mom's house. So he laid in bed content with his plan. The phone woke him up twelve hours later and it was none other than Emily Gilmore, wondering if he would join them to a trip to Neptune California and join Rory, Luke, Lorelai, who apparently spent the last six days basking under the California sun. The suggestion was more like an order and he felt like he had no choice but to accept.

As the plane landed at nine in the evening Logan braced himself, he had a feeling that this trip will bring more than he can handle.

AN2: So there you go. Rest assured that this won't be a literati, I've come to love the Veronica and Jess pairing and I'm so glad that you guys seemed to enjoy it as well. But this chapter signifies the end of the focus on the VJ, I'll be mostly working more on the Rogan, with the Echolls twist, pairing. But since I enjoyed writing the interaction between Veronica and Jess I'm fairly certain that they'll have their moments once in a while. I figured this was the best time to write in Huntzberger so that's why he made his first appearance.

To my dear reviewers:

troubledpenguin: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, as I said it was mostly because of your comments that made the exchange between Rory and Jess have more bite.

ilovegilmoregirls913 : Thanks for the review. I myself experienced a little hesitation in writing this fic, just like you I love this two shows. I only came up with this idea because of the way the last season of Gilmore Girls ended. I am a die hard literati fan, but I think I'm losing hope. Anyway, Veronica and Logan weren't together when I was developing this story so I thought that maybe Jess and Veronica would mesh well together. Veronica is smart and witty like Rory but she did not live the sheltered life that Rory lived. In my opinion that makes Jess her perfect match, well Logan Echolls aside of course (LoVe for always). As for the Mac and Dick marriage, I think they make an interesting couple, more interesting than Mac/Cassidy so I just added them in for the heck of it.

LoVe23 : Your review is appreciated as always. And I hope you are not wondering whether this will still end up as a literati anymore. After all it was you who mostly pushed me into the direction that this story is going, thanks for that btw. Anyway, I don't think you can actually call it splitting up, whatever it is between Logan and Addy. Logan did say that their relationship is undefined and I haven't defined it myself mostly because there are certain things that have to be revealed first, which I think will be in the next chapter, still in the works.

tylerhiltongrupie53 : I appreciate the vehemence of your support for Jess and Veronica. So that said, this is definitely not a lit. Thanks for the review as always. Hope you liked the chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Thanks for those who reviewed. Here is the next chapter...

The black limousine pulled into the carport. Once it came to a full stop the driver got out of the vehicle and opened the door for his passengers. Only two of the five passengers came out of the limo.

Emily Gilmore eyed the house critically and then nodded in approval. Logan Huntzberger was also looking over the house but refrained from commenting. The two proceeded towards the door which opened without their bidding. Behind the heavy oak was Lorelai Gilmore-Danes.

"Don't these people have maids to open the front door for them?" was the first thing out of Emily's mouth.

"Why yes mother they do. You are actually looking at her. I decided to cash in all my stocks from the Dragon Fly and work as a maid in this glorious California residence." Lorelai quipped cheekily.

"It's good to know that you've retained that sense of humor of yours." Emily dryly replied.

"I saw the limo pull up so I decided to open the door for my parents and where are my children?" Lorelai asked while looking for the twins, "You did take them with you right?" she eyed her mother suspiciously.

"Of course we did, that is after all why we bothered coming at all. Honestly Lorelai, why do you insist on trying my patience?" An exasperated Emily wondered loudly.

"Because it's fun. So mom, my kids?" Lorelai looked at her expectantly.

"Will and Richie are in the limo with your father. They are tired and are already asleep." An affectionate smile graced Emily's features.

"Dad and his bad back; got it." Lorelai opened the door wider to let them in while she screamed Luke's name. Emily frowned at her daughter but was spared the chance to chastise her since Luke, Jess, Veronica and Rory walked into the foyer.

"Geez Lorelai, why do you have to scream in the middle of the night?" Luke scowled at his wife as he walked next to her.

"Dad needs help with Will and Richie." Lorelai replied simply. After greeting Emily and Logan the two parents went out to the carport to take their kids from the limo to the rooms that Jess and Veronica prepared for them.

"Hi Grandma, Logan." Rory proceeded to hug her grandmother and gave Logan a kiss on the cheek just then Richard Gilmore entered the house.

"Luke and Lorelai are taking care of the twins." He burst into the room. Rory walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"It's the hoodlum Richard." Emily commented once she got a good look at Jess.

"Grandma!" Rory looked horrified at her grandmother's comment.

"What Emily?" a preoccupied Richard looked at where his wife was pointing.

"It's that boy who had a black eye when he was supposed to have dinner with me and Rory." Emily looked Jess over in disdain.

"Well it's good to be remembered; that was over a decade ago." Jess was trying to hide his smile while Veronica did not bother at all.

"I don't see why you are so amused young man. You behaved poorly that evening if I remember correctly." Emily raised her eyebrow in disapproval.

"Grandma, this is Jess Mariano, you did meet him before. And this is Veronica Mars, his fiancée." Rory walked over to the couple and formally introduced them to Richard, Emily and Logan. "Jess, Veronica, this is my grandfather Richard Gilmore, my grandmother, Emily and this is Logan Huntzberger."

"Jess Mariano? Is he the one who wrote the book you loaned me three years ago?" Richard directed his question to Rory.

"Yes that's him grandpa." Rory smiled in return.

"Well, while I tend to favor the classics, your book young man gave me hope for the new generation of writers." Richard smiled at Jess who seemed embarrassed by the compliment.

"Thank you Mr. Gilmore." Jess held out his hand to Richard, who shook it happily.

"I must say it's a shame that no one printed more copies of that book. I tried to buy The Subsect but I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"There were only five hundred copies of the book. There wasn't much demand for it so it wasn't reprinted at all." Jess shrugged as he said those words.

"Maybe Logan here could have his company reprint your book. I have a number of colleagues who would appreciate it, I recommended it to them but they always complained that they can't find a copy." Richard clapped Logan on the back as he said it.

"It's not necessary, after all it was just a short novel. I'm sure I can dig up a copy for you Mr. Gilmore." Jess refrained from looking at Logan's direction.

"Call me Richard, Jess." Richard waving off the formalities.

"I'll try sir." Jess replied smilingly.

"Are we going to stand in the foyer for the entire night?" Emily asked impatiently.

"Oh of course not Mrs. Gilmore," Veronica finally spoke up, "The maids will bring up your suitcase to the rooms and the pilot told us you already had dinner, so there's coffee waiting for us in the living room."

Jess and Veronica led the way to the living room, where they were soon joined by Luke and Lorelai.

"Will and Richie are completely out of it. It must have been the flight that exhausted them." Lorelai announced as she entered the room, "Oh…snicker doodles." She cried as she picked one off the tray.

"Is that what these are called? They are positively delicious." Richard proclaimed as he took another bite of the cookie.

"Veronica made them herself." Jess stated proudly.

Meanwhile Emily walked over to Lorelai and hovered as her daughter ate and drank, while the rest of the group was busy talking.

"That hoodlum, he used to date Rory. And he's the one getting married. Why are we here Lorelai?" she whispered somewhat angrily.

"He's Luke's nephew mother. He's family." Lorelai whispered back.

"If I had known that it was his wedding I wouldn't have bothered coming at all." Emily huffed impatiently.

"Why?" confusion marred Lorelai's face.

"Have you forgotten how rude he was when we first met?" Emily looked shocked at Lorelai's inability to understand her point of view.

"That was ten years ago. Jess hasn't been a hoodlum for the last few years. He's more mature now. I'm sure he won't be getting a black eye from a swan anytime soon." Lorelai rolled her eyes at her mother.

"A swan gave him that black eye?" the elder Gilmore looked at her daughter incredulously.

"Yes, Luke told me a few nights ago. Best kept secret in Stars Hollow." Lorelai thinking about how long it took her to get the secret of the "Swan Incident" from her husband. Ever since Veronica mentioned it on the first night that they got to Neptune she has been bugging Luke about that particular comment.

"You said that the Townsends are going to be here."

"Jess said they won't get here until Thursday, for the rehearsal dinner."

"Oh, why are we here early?"

"The twins have a fitting tomorrow, they're part of the wedding."

Emily shook her head and sighed as she can't quite comprehend the entire point of their presence. She walked over to her husband who was busy comparing literary tastes with Jess, while Rory, Logan, Luke and Veronica listened to them talk. She put her hand on Richard's arm and he immediately turned in her direction.

"I'm afraid we'll have to cut our conversation short." Richard looked at Jess apologetically.

"Of course. You all must be tired from the flight. Veronica will show you to your rooms." Jess directed his statement to the three new arrivals.

As Veronica ushered the three towards the second floor Keith Mars walked into the living room. Stopping Veronica for a quick hug he proceeded towards Jess, Luke, Lorelai and Rory who were both still enjoying the coffee and snicker doodle.

"I'm going to get going now. Luke, can you make sure that my baby girl and your nephew don't remain in the same room alone for more than five minutes?" Keith clapped Luke on the back good naturedly. Luke nodded in reply and shook Keith's hand.

"I still don't get why you have to leave in the middle of the night, days before your daughter's wedding." Jess gave him a look of disapproval, after all Keith already bailed on their trip to Catalina.

"That's why I get paid to be a private detective and not you Jessie boy." Keith gave Jess a pat on the head as if he was a child. Jess just rolled his eyes and refrained from commenting.

"I'm out of here. I'll be back on Wednesday, before all the fun stuff for the wedding begins. Behave." He told Jess condescendingly. Luke and Lorelai can't help but laugh at the disgruntled expression on Jess face as Keith said the word.

Once Keith was out of the room Jess shook his head at his almost stepfather's antics.

"Will you be calling him dad?" Lorelai teasingly asked him.

Jess smirked at her and shook his head again, "I seem to get stuck with the crazies for families."

"Hey!" Lorelai offended by what he said.

"Why did you let Veronica deal with my grandparents by herself?" Rory asked out of nowhere, in an effort to stop the bickering that Lorelai and Jess were about to engage in.

"Haven't you heard Veronica is the action hero in our relationship? Personally I'd rather not be alone with your grandmother." Jess smiled ruefully.

"You're scared of Emily Gilmore?" Lorelai looked like the Cheshire cat.

"I'm not the only one. Am I Luke?" Jess smirked at his uncle.

"I'm out if this. Emily has been great to me ever since the twins were born." Luke held his hands up in the air in mock surrender.

"Yeah, I did most of the work and he got most of the credit." Lorelai rolled her eyes at her husband.

"It's probably because Luke let grandma and grandpa spend as much time as they want with Will and Richie, and for the fact that he also suggested that Richie be named after grandpa." Rory stated simply.

"Personally I wanted to name the twins Seth and Ryan." Lorelai stage whispered conspiratorially to Jess.

"After the OC?" Jess looked at her as though she was insane.

"Aha, you watched it too, come on, admit it." Lorelai pointed an accusing finger at Jess.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"It's moments like this that I question my sanity." Luke told Rory as Jess and Lorelai continued their juvenile exchange.

"For being related to the two of them?" Rory smilingly asked.

"No, for loving them just as they are." Luke shook his head in reply. The two burst out into laughter effectively ending Jess and Lorelai's exchange, as they looked at Luke and Rory in wonder.

Veronica entered the room looking a little paler than usual. She just proceeded towards Jess and he in turn put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jess asked soothingly.

"She got to you too." Lorelai smiled at Veronica sympathetically.

"No, it's just that she wanted everything a certain way." Veronica, everyone could tell was being generous at her description.

"What did she want?" Lorelai asked suspiciously.

"She asked about the sheets thread count. Maybe we should give them the master's bedroom; they might be more comfortable there." She suggested to Jess.

"Are you out of your mind? That room was designed specifically for you and me, there's no way they'd be more comfortable in our room. Their room is one of the best in the house." Jess kissed her temple reassuringly.

"You're probably right; the room is cluttered with all our stuff." Veronica sighed heavily.

"Don't worry Veronica; Emily Gilmore is like that to everyone." Lorelai tried to make her feel better with her encounter with Emily.

"And she's probably tired from the flight so she's extra crabby than usual." Rory smiled at Veronica.

"Besides, everyone needs a good Emily Gilmore story; I think you just managed to top mine." Luke contributed.

"Come on, let's go over to Addy's, I'm supposed to meet her tonight to prepare her for a business meeting." Jess removed his arm from her shoulder and grabbed her hand.

Veronica grinned at Jess and nodded. The two said goodbye to the other three and left the living room.

* * *

Rory just got out of the bathroom and was about to turn on the television when there was a knock on her door. It was almost midnight and she could feel everything that happened today take a toll on her, the trip to back from Catalina, the conversation with Jess and then finding out that her boyfriend was coming. She sighed and reluctantly opened the door.

"Hey."

"Logan, it's late." Rory stated tiredly to her boyfriend.

"We need to talk." Logan Huntzberger quietly replied.

"About what?" impatience marred her face. Rory was glad that Jess told her that Logan was coming with the Gilmores, giving her time to process. She knew when Logan walked into the foyer that he was not pleased at all.

"You're angry at me? You're the one who did not tell me where you were. I stupidly assumed that you were in Stars Hollow, when in fact you were in California, breathing the same air as that Jake guy." Logan angrily retorted.

"Would you keep your voice down! And his name is Jess not Jake. And if I remember correctly not once did you ask about me, whenever you called you complained about everything that you hated about London." She crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

Logan sighed heavily, this was not how he pictured their exchange, granted he did not imagine that she would be contrite about not telling him where she was, but he did not want her outright defensive.

"Look, I'm sorry if I snapped at you. I just want to know where you are. I just got the feeling of déjà vu when your grandmother told me you were here." He wisely switched tactics because Rory dropped her hands to her side.

"I'm sorry for not telling you."

"Okay."

"I'm really tired Logan."

"Okay, go to sleep. Wait, why didn't they just let us room together? Don't they know that we live together?" Logan raised his eyebrow in puzzlement.

"They do. But everyone's trying to keep up appearances, Jess and Veronica are not even sleeping in the same room too, and they are getting married. Only married couples can share rooms." Rory shrugged as she said this.

'Okay, go on and rest. I'll see you tomorrow." Logan finally crossed the distance between them and placed a kiss on her forehead. Rory wrapped her arms around him for a hug and the two remained in each other's arms for a while.

* * *

MONDAY

Jess was reading the paper at exactly seven in the morning; it has been his routine for the last five years. He had before him a plateful of fresh fruits, a glass of orange juice and a croissant. Veronica was still sleeping soundly in the library and would wake up two hours later. He stood from his chair and slid open the door that leads to the pool. He breathe deeply in satisfaction, he loved this time of morning in Neptune.

He went back inside to finish his breakfast. Just as he sat down Richard Gilmore strolled into the dining room.

"Good morning Mr. Gilmore." Jess greeted politely.

"Good morning to you too Jess. And I told you call me Richard." Richard smiled warmly at the young man as he sat down across from him. "You're up early."

"I usually wake up at five to go jogging. Then I have breakfast at this time then I head for the office." Jess shrugged as he replied.

"So do you write full time or do you something else? Something that would require an office?" Richard was sincerely curious after discovering the way Jess and his wife met.

"Right now I am focusing on my writing. But I did manage a company for a while." Jess answered.

"That's interesting. I'm afraid my wife has reservations about being here." Richard remarked bluntly.

"I understand completely Richard. I'm afraid I did not make the best first impression on her when I was seventeen. I won't make any excuses but I am glad that you two were able to join us. We are after all connected by Luke and Lorelai's marriage." Jess nodded in Richard's direction agreeably.

"Yes, you are after all Luke's nephew. And we've grown very fond of our son-in-law. I'm glad to be here as well." Richard commented with such candor.

Jess merely smiled in return and handed him the front page of the New York Times. The two silently read the paper as they ate their breakfast. They were almost done when Addy walked in. Seeing the two of them in comfortable silence made her stop in her tracks, a grin on her face.

"Isn't this a pretty picture? You finally have someone to keep you company this early in the morning." She remarked teasingly.

"If it isn't Adriana Townsend, how are you my dear?" Richard stood from his chair and walked towards the young lady in question.

"Uncle Rich, how are you doing these days?" Addy met him halfway and kissed Richard on the cheek and then hooked her arm into his.

"I'm doing very well. A bit worse for wear, but dealing with two four year olds tend to do that to you." He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you look great. How is Aunt Em?" Addy wondering where Emily was.

"She's still in bed. I believe the plane ride tired her out." Richard looked a bit concerned.

"I'll have the maid bring breakfast to the room." Jess offered.

"She'll appreciate that. Thank you." He smiled warmly at the younger man.

"It's no big deal for him Uncle Rich. Most if his guests get the breakfast in bed deal. So what's on the agenda today?" Addy turned to Jess.

"Well, Luke and Lorelai are going with Will and Richie for the fitting, and then they're having lunch at Beverly Hills, finally they're off to Legoland. I could arrange it so you and Emily can join them, if you'd like." Jess looked at Richard expectantly.

"I think we're going to sit this one out, allow the grandkids to spend some time with their parents. Emily would be grateful for the rest and I'd really like to see your library; Rory mentioned that you have a nice collection."

"You're welcome to it Richard."

"So what about the rest of your guests?" Addy asked brightly.

'We'll Dick suggested that we spend the day at the beach, so I guess that's where we're going." Jess shrugged in response.

"Okay, I'm headed to LA and meet with another writer. You know if you never started the meeting with writers personally I would never have to go through this again and again." She shook her head in disapproval.

"Meeting with writers?" Richard looked between the two of them in confusion.

"Jess here handles the publishing side of Papi's estate; I'm just filling in while he takes off for his wedding." Addy responded to Richard's question.

"Oh yes, your grandfather's companies, I did hear that he left you everything. So that's the desk job you were referring to earlier Jess." Richard faced Jess as he asked this.

Jess nodded and was about to respond when Addy interjected.

"And he's very good at it."

"Yes I know. My stock has skyrocketed in the last three years." Richard looked at Jess in admiration.

"Well you have Jess to thank for that. He made a lot of changes with the way the company was run but eventually it actually made a lot of difference. That's why I have to meet with the writer, one of his brilliant ideas. The writers feel special when the head honcho personally meets with them." Addy seemed very proud of her best friend as she said it.

"I know that too. I heard that the company is pummeling the competition. I believe Logan got busier since the estate was passed onto you." Richard commented lightly, while the two exchanged meaningful looks. "It's a good thing then that I placed my bets on your grandfather nine years ago Adriana."

"It's all on Jess. I not really into the publishing business, I'm only taking over while his honeymooning."

"How do you two know each other by the way?" Richard looking from Jess and then to Addy.  
"Jess and I knew each other for years. He's my best friend in the world. That's why I trust him with the company."

"I knew her way back when she was ten. She's my best friend in the world." Jess smiled at her fondly.

"I see. He's the JM that your parents always referred to."

"Yup."

"The same JM that your parents wanted to send to school."

"The one and only."

"That's interesting. I think I'll go and check on Emily, it is eight in the morning after all." Richard patted Addy's arm as he let go and smiled at Jess as he went out of the room.

"I bet you he's going to be singing you praises to Aunt Em." Addy plopped down on the chair next to Jess.

"I think he'll need more than what he has for her to change her mind about me."

"I can't believe she called you a hoodlum. Well…actually I can. I've seen you at seventeen, not really the best sight to see." She teased him mercilessly.

"Whatever." Jess rolled his eyes at her.

"That's it. No fancy repartee, no biting comeback. What has happened to you?" Addy looked at him mockingly.

"It's amazing how much you sound like Logan. You two are spending too much time together." Jess mocked her in return.

"Touché away. We're not spending the day together. I told him I have to focus on this writer so I can't have him there." She made a face at him.

"Real mature Addy." Jess commented as he made face back at her. "What about the other meeting?"

"Maybe tomorrow." She answered dismissively as she threw a croissant at him.

Jess caught it mid air and took a huge bite. "Wuss."

AN2: So that's it for Chapter 11. The entire point of this chapter is to set up the new storyline that I developed for the Rogan with an Echolls twist. I'm also doing a count down before the wedding day so you'll be seeing more of the days. So thanks for those who are reading my fic. Hope you enjoyed reading and as usual I have messages for my reviewers.

Problem Child1 : Thanks for the review as always. I'm glad you liked the Veronica/Jess pairing. I love it as well. I hope you warm up to the idea of Logan Echolls with Rory. I'm having fun with writing about it. Thanks again for the review.

tylerhiltongrupie53 : I'm really glad you liked the last chapter. I really enjoyed writing that one. Thanks for the review as always, I hope you liked this chapter as well.

LoVe23 : Your review as always is awesome. I won't go back on my word, I liked the idea of the Jess and Veronica too much to let it die. Besides I also am enjoying writing about Logan Echolls and Rory, I think it'll be incredibly interesting. Thanks again. Your reviews are what kept me writing, so keep 'em coming.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Here another dose of A lifetime Ago. It may be prudent to suggest that you read the AN2 once you're done. So on with the story...

The sun was shining brightly. The temperature was in the seventies. It was by definition a perfect summer day. Jess packed an insurmountable amount of food, all on Veronica's prompting.

They all came in different cars. Jess and Veronica took her LeBaron, Logan, Wallace, Mac and Dick took the Xterra, Eli and Carmen rode his motorcycle and Jess loaned Logan Huntzberger his BMW, in an effort to give him and Rory some privacy on the ride over.

They arrived at one of the private houses by the beach that Dick owned through his real estate agency. The house was huge and one step out of the door was the beach.

"So? Sweet huh?" Dick looked at all of them expectantly, as they all stepped out of the back door and right into the beach.

"Nice digs, as always." Logan Echolls mock saluted him.

"Standard issue for one Dick Casablancas." Veronica commented dryly.

"It's beautiful." Rory smiled in appreciation.

"Yeah, we're actually going to keep this one aren't we Richard?" Mac looked at her husband crossly.

"Why do you think I bought it? It's all for you baby." Dick pulled Mac towards him and enveloped her into his arms, causing her to snort in amusement.

"Enough with the PDA. Not all of us came here with our significant others." Wallace hollered at the rest of the group.

"Listen to the man y'all." Logan Echolls looked up at the heavens as if begging for reprieve.

"You already came with _your_ significant other Echolls." Eli pointing to Logan's left hand, causing Carmen to slap his arm.

"Gross." Veronica wrinkled her nose at Eli's comment.

"Play nice people." Jess interjected.

"He started it." Logan frowned at Jess' remark.

"Wait a minute. We have to clear something up first." Veronica interrupted what would have been an entire day of racial banter between Logan and Eli. "Did we work out how we're going to call the two Logans? Coz, this is going to be a confusing six days if we don't figure it out."

The two Logans looked at each other and then at the rest of the group.

"I never thought of that." Jess smirked at Veronica as he said this.

"She's right of course." Logan Huntzberger finally uttered a sentence.

"How about we call them L1 and L2, like the Bananas in Pajamas show?" Wallace contributed teasingly.

"You're a regular comedian Fennel." Logan Echolls rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Why don't we just call them by their last names?" Mac suggested.

"His last name is a mouthful." Rory nodding in Logan Huntzberger's direction, then she frowned in concentration. "How about your middle names?" she turned to the two Logans hopefully.

"I don't think so." Logan Huntzberger shook his head in reply.

"That bad huh?" Logan Echolls looked at him sympathetically.

Huntzberger smiled uneasily and then looked away from the other Logan.

"I remember Townie calling you something else." Jess tried hard to recall what the name was.

"That could be a number of things; God, Jesus Christ, Oh my, there's just so many I just don't know." Logan Echolls smiled mischievously at Jess.

"I remember she called you an ass hat." Jess contradicted Logan through narrowed eyes.

"Hardly appropriate Jess; besides everyone calls him that." Veronica grinned at her fiancé.

"L-man, that's what we used to call you in high school." Dick loudly recommended.

"Only you called me that dude. I won't be answering to that." Logan replied dismissively.

"Come on there has to be something." Veronica sighed in exasperation.

"I used to be called Hunter. I'll answer to that." Logan Huntzberger finally came up with something.

"Who called you that?" Rory asked him curiously.

"Just someone I used to know." Huntzberger shrugged as he answered.

"And I can answer to Landon." Logan Echolls helpfully added.

"Is that your middle name?" Eli pushed Logan in jest.

"That's it. That's the name that Townie calls you." Jess' face lit up in triumph.

"It's not my middle name." Echolls rolled his eyes at Eli's question.

"So? What's the deal with the name?" Mac bluntly asked him.

"Just an inside joke between Townie and me. Now that I think about it I'd rather not have everyone else call me that." Echolls looked thoughtful.

"How about we call this Logan," Rory nudged Huntzberger, "Hunter and we just let Logan Echolls be Logan. Are you okay with that?" she asked her Logan hopefully.

"Of course Ace." Hunter nodded in acquiescence.

"I'm okay with that too, thank you for asking." Logan jokingly remarked.

"I'm sorry." Rory smiled at him apologetically.

"He's being an ass hat Rory; you don't need to be sorry." Jess rolled his eyes at Logan's antics.

"What he said, Ace." Logan looked at her teasingly and then he winked as he said the word Ace.

Hunter frowned at Logan's use of Ace to call Rory; he was the only person who got to call her that since college.

"Now that's settled how about we start the fun, fun, fun at the beach party." Dick suggested brightly.

Jess and Veronica headed back into the house to organize the food, Dick pulled Mac to the water, she was being difficult so Dick hauled her onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and she promptly screamed ways on how she was going to kill him, Eli held his hand out to Carmen and the two went for a walk, Wallace followed Jess and Veronica into the kitchen to help them with the food, Logan headed back to the car to get his surfboard and Rory and Hunter sat down on one of the lounge chairs by the beach.

"You fit right in with them Ace." Hunter looked at her in curiosity.

"I've spent days with them already, so I guess that's why." Rory shrugged in response.

"That makes sense. I don't think I will though." He turned his gaze into the ocean.

"Why not? They are nice people." Rory's brows furrowed at his remark.

"I just have so much in my mind. Maybe this trip was the perfect cure for that." He took Rory's hand in his and smiled.

"This trip will do you some good. I'm sure of it." Rory stated decidedly.

"How about we join those two?" he nodded towards Mac and Dick's direction

"Last one there is a rotten egg." Rory beamed at him and got up from the chair running. Hunter shouted unfair as he too took off towards the water.

* * *

"You're blocking my sun ass hat." Veronica complained from her position on the lounge chair.

"I thought we vetoed that and decided that I get to keep my name." Logan remarked as Veronica tried to use her leg to push him out of the way.

"Besides, the sun doesn't belong to you. It belongs to everyone, the entire solar system shares the sun; so don't go bragging that the sun is _your_ sun." Logan continued to refuse to budge.

"I'd be willing to call Weevil and have him get rid of you for me." Veronica continued to push him out of the way.

"I'm not afraid of Deputy Eli. I can take him on any day."

"I'll call Jess."

"I'm not afraid of Jess either."

"But Jess can make or break your plans of getting laid tonight."

"How is that?"

"Oh he can tell Addy you were mean to me. She'll revoke your privileges for the night."

"Who said I'm getting laid anyway?" Logan asked triumphantly, and then frowned when he realized the implications.

This was enough to get Veronica to sit up and stare at Logan incredulously.

"You're not?"

"I'm perfectly capable of being in a relationship without the sexual gratification part." Logan actually looked offended.

"Get out." Veronica looked unconvinced.

"I know everyone thinks we're doing it because I always sneak out at night, but all we do is talk, maybe make out once in a while and sleep on the same bed, and when I say sleep I actually mean closing your eyes and dreaming." Logan stated condescendingly as he stepped out of the way effectively getting out of Veronica's sun.

"Liar." She accused him quietly as she settled back on the chair.

"Come on, surf with me Ronnie." Logan charmingly pleaded as he sat down on the chair next to her.

"No thank you. I tried it once and I ended up falling flat on my face. Literally." Veronica closed her eyes again and worked on her tan.

"But it's so boring just to sit there and let your skin get darker. Let's go surfing."

"Why are you bugging me?"

"Dick's with Mac. Inside the house. You know what that means." Logan gave her a patronizing look.

"At least some of us are getting laid." Veronica sighed.

"I told you, you should have taken us up on our offer. Addy has soundproofed rooms."

"It's part of the wedding thing. We're supposed to maintain self-control and be celibate for the remainder of the days before the wedding." Veronica recited dully.

"Well good luck with that. Jess is coming and he has that predatory look on his face." Logan looked at Veronica and smiled lecherously.

"Shut up ass hat. Go bother someone else."

"And I see that you won't be practicing self-control from the way you are staring at him."

"Leave me alone. Go bother someone else."

"You said that already. Do you think Rory would try surfing?" Logan asked thoughtfully as Rory appeared in the view and stopped Jess from advancing towards Veronica.

"Maybe you should ask her yourself." Veronica never let her gaze on Jess waver, who was still looking at her even though he appeared to be talking to Rory.

"Maybe I will." Logan huffed and stood up he walked towards Rory and Jess walked towards Veronica.

"Hey Rory." Logan drawled her name out playfully.

"Hey Logan." Rory mimicked him teasingly.

"Wanna go surfing?"

"I don't know how." She shook her head helplessly.

"I can teach you. I'm an awesome surfer." He confidently replied.

"Wow. Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Logan looked at her, a confused expression on his face.  
"The massive hot air that accompanied your remark." Rory smiled at him prettily.

"I know, I know. I have a huge ego. I didn't think you have it in you. Girl's got claws." Logan grinned.

"You really sure you can teach me to surf?" Rory eyed him critically.

"Am I not Logan Echolls, Neptune's champion surfer of '04, '05 and '06? Logan countered.

"I don't know, are you?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"See, this won't work if you have no knowledge about me." Logan gestured between them.

"To be your student, I have to know these things." Rory looked at him dubiously.

"No, if we are to have a friendship you have to make an effort to find out things about me." Logan wagged his forefinger at her condescendingly and started for the surfboards by the lounge chairs.

"We are to be friends?" Rory asked as she followed him

"Don't you know that's the point of this entire thing? Man, Yale did nothing for you, at all." He teased.

"Hey!" Rory mocked pout.

"Kidding aside, I taught Jess and Veronica everything they know about surfing."

"Which is not at all reassuring. Jess falls five times before getting it right and Veronica refused to surf at all."

"They just didn't want to practice. And practice makes perfect. Besides, I have a feeling you'll like it. Here you can use Mac's board." He gestured to the light blue surfboard while he took the white one next to it.

"Mac surfs?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Why did she marry Dick? Why does she continue to be married to Dick? It's all a mystery." Logan replied flippantly.

"Okay." Rory was now officially confused.

Logan looked at her and sighed, "Mac learned how to surf the summer of '06. Dick taught her and she was a natural. It's kind of their thing; I actually think it's sacred for them. They seem so different at times but when they are both out there in the ocean, it's like they are one person."

"That's deep."

"Which is more than we could usually say about them, but they're happy." He shrugged as he finished.

"So surfing?" Rory asked brightly.

"Thought you'd never ask." Logan smiled at her and nodded.

* * *

"I'm worried."

Jess looked up from his book to focus on Veronica, who was watching Logan teach Rory how to pop-up from a surf board.

"I'm sure she'll be okay. After all we're alive aren't we?" Jess replied dismissively and returned to his previous preoccupation.

"I'm not worried about the surfing part. I think something's happening there."

"You're worried that your ex and my ex might get together?" he finally put his book down.

"Don't you see they're getting along way too well?" Veronica moved so she could face Jess fully.

"I guess I just don't see it. Rory is nice to everyone anyway. Logan's just probably bored out of his mind." Jess shrugged.

"Aren't you even worried for Addy's sake?" Veronica frowned at him.

"Why should I be? It's not like they're exclusive. They don't even have a real relationship."

"But Logan's already staying over there for the rest of the wedding."

"So…" Jess waited for her to complete her thought.

"Maybe they're taking that time to become a couple again."

"Who knows? You can never tell with them. Besides, it's not like a surfing lesson can jeopardize their non-relationship status." Jess shrugged again.

'They're not sleeping together." Veronica quietly stated.

"I should hope not, otherwise that would be actually the end of Addy and Logan, whatever they are."

"Not Rory and Logan, Jess. Addy and Logan." Veronica playfully pinched him.

"First of all ouch. Secondly, gross, Addy is like my sister, to even suggest that…yuck" Jess remarked as he rubbed the spot where Veronica pinched him

"Come on Jess, Addy is the same age as I am. It'll be dumb to suggest that she's never done the deed before, considering that she and Logan were pretty hot and heavy during sophomore year." Veronica rolled her eyes at him.

"I know that. I'd just rather not know. Besides, Addy has been too busy to get busy." Jess chuckled at his words. Veronica just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Hmm...I wish we were busy too." Veronica looked thoughtful and then smiled at Jess.

"Do you remember the signal?" Jess smirked at her.

"How can I not remember the signal? I invented the signal." Veronica retorted.

"Maybe we can use it now. No adults over thirty so I think we are safe." Jess whispered as he placed a kiss on her bare shoulder.

"Let's do it." Veronica concurred, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

* * *

"I didn't realize how much work it's going to be." Rory remarked as she lay on the board and then got up again, having done it over twenty times already.

"Well you have to learn the basics." Logan looked gleeful.

"You are taking too much pleasure out of this." Rory countered.

"Maybe just a little bit." He smiled sheepishly.

A squeal from Veronica distracted them from what they doing. Jess had his arms around Veronica in a bear hug and looked determined to take her to the water's edge. Veronica managed to wriggle out of his grasp and took off the opposite direction and into the house, with Jess following closely behind.

"Are they going to be okay?" Rory stood next to Logan.

"Yep, they'll be fine. It's their signal." Logan replied casually.

"Signal?" Rory brows furrowed.

"For when they are feeling frisky. That's their way of informing everyone that they'd be other wise 'engaged'." Logan shook his head in amusement as he used the air quotes.

"Oh." A dawn of understanding settled over her.

"Doesn't it bother you? I mean Veronica was your ex-girlfriend." Rory asked reluctantly.

"Not really. It never bothered me. I guess it was because I was with Addy when they got together; but even when we broke up Jess and Veronica being together never bothered me." Logan shrugged.

"From what Jess told me, your relationship with Veronica was intense." Rory tried to make her comment as offhanded as possible.

"I suppose you could even call it epic, which I did during our senior prom. And I meant it too. Don't get me wrong, I was head over heels in love with Veronica. But somehow it became too much, too intense. Then our history with each other seems to get in the way of us being actually happy." Logan looked deep in a thought.

"The first time I told her I was falling in love with her she said something about the things guys say to get past second base. It took her awhile to actually say it back, about a year and six months to be exact. But with Jess she told him she loved him mere months after they started dating, a record for Veronica Mars. That's when I actually knew that no matter how epic our love story is, their story is so much more, I think the exact words for them are massive monumental devotion that can surpass any love story in history."

"Whose words are those?" Rory tried to get his attention for he seemed to have gone to another place.

"Adriana. I read her actual speech for the wedding. Quite a tearjerker I must say." He wiped a nonexistent tear from his eyes.

Rory was quiet as she processed everything. She was truly happy for Jess and Veronica and just a little bit jealous. Not of them personally but of what they have. After all her years with Logan they did not seem to develop what Jess and Veronica have, in Logan Echolls words, a massive monumental devotion to each other.

"See what you did? You've put us in a mood." Logan playfully nudged her.

"So how about we take this to the ocean? Maybe then the water will wash away our envy." Rory moved to pick up the surf board.

"There is not enough ocean to wash away the green in our skin." Logan quipped.

"But it'll have to do." Rory replied determinedly.

"How about we just change the subject? What's the deal with you and Hunter Ace?" Logan raised his eyebrows at her.

"That's weird."

"What is?"

"Hearing you call me Ace. Only Logan, I mean Hunter calls me that."

"Inside joke got it. Can I be frank with you?" Rory nodded when he shot her an expectant look. "It's kind of annoying. Rory is already our nickname right? I can only imagine having to hear Ace over and over again, kind of gets on my nerves." Logan shot her an unapologetic look.

"Can I tell you a secret? It does kind of get on my nerves." She whispered to him conspiratorially. Logan guffawed loudly and Rory grinned in return.

"Come on. Let's try this in the ocean." He gestured towards them and their surfboards.

* * *

Hunter blinked repeatedly as he tried to adjust with the brightness of the afternoon. After eating lunch he and Rory decided to go into the house and take a nap. He supposed he was out for quite a while. When he woke up Rory was missing, which prompted him to go look for her.

He stepped out of the beach house and proceeded towards the lounge chairs, no Rory. But sitting on one of them was Eli and Carmen.

"Hi. Have you seen Rory?" He inquired.

The couple looked up at him. Carmen smiled at him and Eli raised his eyebrow at him and then nodded towards the water.

"Look's like Echolls is teaching your girl how to surf." Eli commented wryly.

Hunter looked in the same direction and saw Logan standing a few feet away while Rory was paddling towards a wave. Rory stood up and managed to stay upright while riding the wave for a good thirty seconds. When she finally toppled off the board she resurfaced and her squeal of delight could be heard from where they were. Logan swam over where she was and the two looked quite comfortable with each other as Rory hugged Logan.

"Looks like she's quite taken too. With surfing I mean." Eli looked at Hunter's expression. Carmen whispered his name warningly and he merely grinned.

"Looks like it." Hunter stalked off towards his girlfriend and the man he shared his name with.

The two decided that was it for the day. After a few tries Rory finally succeeded in riding a wave. Logan just told her she had a natural talent for surfing and Rory beamed at him. They walked back to the shore and Hunter was waiting for them.

"You surfed." Hunter commented lightly.

"You saw me? I surfed." Rory smiled happily.

"She's good too." Logan contributed.

"That's great." Hunter replied, a little sarcastically.

Logan was looking off to the neighboring houses and saw someone walking by the shore. He looked back between Hunter and Rory. Hunter seemed angry, while Rory rolled her eyes at him.

"Why don't I leave you two love birds alone?" Logan became increasingly uncomfortable as he could see a fight coming a mile away.

"Thanks for teaching me." Rory gave him an appreciative smile.

Logan was already walking away. He turned back; he was effectively out of Hunter's sight.

"Anytime." He winked at her and mouthed Ace, Rory giggled at his behavior.

He jogged towards the lounge chairs and settled his board on the sand, not bothering to take his shirt with him. Then he proceeded towards the person by the water's edge.

"Rude much?" Rory frowned at Hunter as she too walked back to return the surfboard where she got it. Eli and Carmen looked at each other and decided to give them some privacy.

"I was not rude to him." Hunter followed her as she went to the chairs to grab her towel and dry off.

"Yes you were."

"Look I just did not appreciate some guy groping my girlfriend right in front of me." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"What are you talking about?" Rory looked at him as though he was losing his mind.

"Your little hug back there did not go unnoticed." He looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"What? I hugged him, there was nothing behind it. I was happy that I finally got to surf. End of story."

"We're supposed to spend time together. I wasn't supposed to watch you spend time with some other guy."

"You were sleeping. I didn't feel like wasting my time here indoors. In case you haven't noticed we are in Southern California, in summer time. You're supposed to have fun at the beach."

"I just spent all of last week working 24/7 in London. I think I at least deserve some sleep."

"And I'm not denying you your sleep. But I'm not denying myself the opportunity to have fun especially because we are on vacation. Next week it'll be business as usual."

"Why are you doing this Rory?"

"I am not doing anything Logan."

"This is our second fight. And I've only been here less than forty hours."

"Maybe if you acted more like a human being to my friends then we wouldn't be fighting."

'These people are not your friends. You barely know them." "I know them well enough to consider them as my friends." She retorted and walked away from him and into the house.

Hunter sighed in exasperation. He turned and faced the ocean. Further down the shore he could see Logan walk towards someone and hugged whoever it was from behind.

AN2: Okay, so I thought it's going to be confusing if I don't make a distinction between Logan Echolls and Logan Huntzberger. So in the next chapters Logan H. will be addressed as Hunter while Logan E. will still be Logan. In some cases Hunter will still be called Logan especially by Rory and the Gilmore Girls characters. But with the Veronica Mars cast he will be recognized as Hunter. Hopefully it won't be so confusing. And I'm already planting seeds on how the Rogan with an Echolls twist is going to work out. So watch out for those. That said thanks for reading. To my two reviewers:

tylerhiltongrupie53 : Thanks for the review as always. I'm glad you liked the action hero reference, I remember Keith saying the same thing about her and Jess feels the same way. And just because I love them together so much I can't help but give them moments in this fic even after it is a complete certainty that they are together for good. Thanks again for reading and for the review.

LoVe23: I hope you like this chapter now I'm definitely working on the Logan E and Rory story line. I appreciate the feedback on the Emily thing. I was trying hard to channel her as I was writing the last chapter. But I also tried to make her a little different, her grandsons made her a little less caustic but she still remembers everything and that's why she remembered Jess, this is the very same woman who kept harping on Lorelai that she should have married Christopher when she was sixteen. As for Richard I always thought that if he ever met Jess on the show he would most definitely like him, Jess is after all a literary buff. Thanks for the review, much appreciated as usual.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: As I wrote this chapter I wasn't entirely conscious of what I was writing. So please bear with me and hopefully you'll have the patience with how this chapter turned out (and I mean you LoVe23). That said, on with the story.

"Guess who?" Logan Echolls asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Please let it be Orlando Bloom." She pleaded to the skies.

Logan snorted as he turned Addy around so they could face each other. He smiled his boyish smile at her and she grinned at him happily.

"Orlando's got nothing on me." Logan posed like a professional weightlifter.

"Au contraire, he's got killer abs." Addy smiled archly.

"And what do you call these?" he took her hand in his and trailed it across his abs.

"Not bad." She nodded approvingly. Logan looked at her with his brows raised.

"Fine I worship thy abs. It is most awesome." She raised both her hands and bowed repeatedly, as though in reverence.

Logan laughed out loud and grabbed both her hands to stop her and enveloped her in his arms.

"So how was your day?" she asked when he released her and she placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Getting better." He pulled her to him and kissed her properly.

"I think I just about melted." She murmured smilingly against his lips.

"Good, that means I'm doing it right." He murmured back.

"So seriously how was your day at the beach?" She asked him again when they finally parted.

"I taught Rory how to surf. It was fun."

"Did she like it?"

"Of course she liked it. I'm an awesome teacher." He answered her with an air of superiority.

"Of course you are. You are awesome." She retorted sarcastically. Logan rolled his eyes at her and pulled her back and settled his arm around her shoulder.

"But her boyfriend didn't like it so much." He commented as they walked towards the house she came from.

"Didn't like the touchy feely part of surfing huh?" she smiled sympathetically.

"He's kind of a jerk." He stated harshly.

"Pot has met the kettle finally." She titled her head back so they could see eye to eye.

"I'm only a jerk with good reason. Nowadays I'm the epitome of perfection." Logan squeezed her shoulder as though trying to convince her of what he said.

"Of course you are. Don't you know I often start the day thanking the Lord for letting me bask in your gorgeousness?" she smiled at him mischievously. He smiled back and placed a kiss on her nose.

"You think I'm gorgeous, you want to date me, love me and marry me…"

"You so did not quote Miss Congeniality." Addy was overcome with laughter.

"I did too, it seemed appropriate. After all you did say I am gorgeous." Logan shrugged in return.

They entered the house which was virtually empty. Logan led them towards a lone couch and proceeded to sit down, taking Addy with him.

"So how was your day?" Logan asked as he pulled her to his lap.

"It was great. I signed the author and he is amazing. The way he writes, it's just unbelievable." Addy responded breathlessly as she made herself comfortable on his lap. Logan made a show of looking up at the ceiling, as if thanking some higher power for putting him in that position. Addy playfully punched him and placed both her hands on each of his shoulders.

"If he's so amazing should I be worried?" Logan looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"Come on Logan, I meant as a writer, he's amazing as a writer. I would totally buy his book, get it signed and lock it up in the safe."

"High praise coming from you."

"I know. I just have a good feeling about this one. It'll cement Jess' legacy in the company."

"But you signed him." He gave her a pointed look.

"Only because I took over while Jess got married. But he was the one who discovered Jordan."

"Enough shop talk. You up for the barbeque tonight?" Logan ran his fingers through her hair.

Addy smiled at him sweetly, "How would you feel about ditching it?"

"I'd be open to it, if I get something in return." Logan waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She looked thoughtful and then grinned, "You'll get a lifetime subscription of Reader's Digest if you agree."

"I'm thinking more in the lines of Playboy." He shot back.

"You already have that. How about a night of…" she looked at him expectantly.

"Wild passionate…" he in turn waited for her to fill in the blanks.

"Baking. I'll make you your favorite chocolate chip cookie, extra chocolaty." She smiled at him and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He frowned at her, "Those better be great cookies." He grumbled.

Addy grinned triumphantly, "and if we have time then maybe we can have sex." She got up from his lap and ran to the door. Logan was stuck on the couch, a shocked look on his face.

"Did anyone see me?" she switched gears abruptly.

"I think Weevil and Carmen saw you." Logan was still trying to process.

"Drat. Now we can't ditch them. Oh well, I guess we're going to the barbeque after all. We'll just have to postpone the night of _baking_."

Logan rolled his eyes at her and got up from the couch. He walked towards her and framed her face with both his hands.

"Ever the tease." He commented lightly. She smiled at him and took his hands in hers.

"Maybe we can still squeeze in some doing it time." She grinned cheekily, dropped his hands and ran out of the house.

"That little minx." Logan smiled to himself and took off after her.

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Hunter wanted to follow Rory inside but he knew that it would become an even bigger fight if he did. So he sat on one of the lounge chairs and picked up a book that was lying on it.

It was a novel by some unknown author. He opened it and started reading. He was completely engrossed in the book when he heard a shriek from one of the neighboring houses. He recognized the man running as Logan Echolls instantly.

The other Logan was chasing a girl who was obviously giving him a run for his money. Whenever he managed to reach her she would laugh at him and slip from his grasp. He would shout at her, none of the words made sense to Hunter, and continue to follow in her wake.

_An hour ago he was groping my girlfriend and now he's after some other girl._ The thought ran through his mind unbidden.

Logan finally caught up with the girl and they both fell onto the sand. The two obviously knew each other well as Hunter watched Logan tickle the girl, in retaliation perhaps. He looked away as he saw them begin a major make out session.

_At least now I'm sure he won't go after Rory_. He thought to himself as he grabbed the book and went back to reading.

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Logan stood up and offered his hand to Addy. She looked at him suspiciously but took it anyway. He grabbed her hand and smiled innocently. She allowed his smile to fool her; the second they started for the Casablancas' house he hauled her onto his shoulder and turned to the opposite direction, running towards the water.

Addy was screaming bloody murder at him. He mostly ignored her and dropped her to her feet when the water was almost to their chests. He smiled at her charmingly and she splashed water onto his face in revenge. He returned the gesture.

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Jess stepped out of the house. He looked out into the ocean and saw Logan and Addy engaged in a juvenile attempt of flirtation.

"Crazy kids." He murmured in amusement. A movement to his left caught his attention. It was none other than Hunter, absorbed in a book.

Hunter looked up when he heard someone approaching. He can't help the overwhelming dislike that rushed to him when he realized it was Jess. He kept remembering their first meeting and how it was the cause of his and Rory's first break up.

"You're reading my book." Jess stated as he finally reached Hunter.

"I didn't know who owned it. I saw it lying on the chair and since I had nothing to do I figured I might as well read it." Hunter replied nonchalantly.

"That's okay; what I actually meant was that you are reading my book, a book I wrote."

"You wrote this?" a surprised expression on his face as he turned the pages to look at the cover. "It says the author is JM Reynolds."

"Yeah, pseudonym."

"Good writing."

"Yeah, that actually hasn't been published yet. I'm only looking it over before the final printing."

"Look man, I know we got off on a bad start-" but Jess cut him off before he could finish his thought.

"No big deal. That was five years ago. You were a jealous boyfriend; I was a jealous ex. Bad combination." Jess nodded understandingly.

"So why are we here?" Logan looked at him uncertainly.

"Why are you and Rory here? I just wanted my uncle to be here for the wedding. You two are just along for the ride." Jess was trying hard not to be exasperated.

"So you're not here hoping that Rory will stop the-"

"Stop right there man. I love Veronica. And I refuse to hear any suggestions to the contrary. Let's call a truce, I have a feeling no matter what I say you wouldn't like me anyway, and let me tell you the feeling is not only mutual but increase it tenfold and you have what I have." Jess finished wearily.

"Truce then." Logan nodded conciliatorily, but there was an underlying coolness in his gesture.

"Jessie!" Addy walked over to them with her arms across her chest. She smiled at Jess widely, while Logan headed for the lounge chair where the towels were.

Jess picked up a towel from one of the chairs and wrapped it around Addy.

"You are completely drenched." Jess smirked at his best friend.

"Logan threw me into the ocean." She continued smiling. Logan walked back to them and wrapped another towel around Addy. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"You don't say? That's how you got drenched?" Jess sarcastically replied.

"Don't be so condescending Jess. It's not attractive." Addy shook her head in mock disapproval.

"Jess my man, where are your manners? Introduce Addy to the other Logan." Logan ordered as he wrapped his arms around Addy from behind.

Hunter stood from the chair and looked at the girl called Addy, he felt like he knows her. Jess glared at Logan but did as he said anyway.

"Logan Huntzberger, Adriana Townsend." He said curtly.

"Bella?" an amazed Hunter asked.

"Hunter." Addy nodded coolly. "And I go by Addy, I'd prefer if you don't address me as Bella."

"You two know each other?" Logan turned her around and tipped Addy's chin up so their eyes could meet.

"It was a lifetime ago." Addy smiled at him and grabbed his hand from her face and letting their fingers intertwine.

Hunter was still looking at Addy dumbly. Jess frowned in his direction, while Logan and Addy were basically too absorbed in each other.

"I'm starving." Addy declared.

"Let's go get you something to eat." Logan pulled her next to him and started to lead her back to the house.

"Hey Jess, do you think that Veronica would loan me some of her clothes?" Addy turned back.

"You didn't bring any clothes? When you knew you were going to the beach?" Jess gave her a look of disapproval.

"I didn't plan on staying. I only came over to steal Logan away from you guys; unfortunately the deputy and Carma saw me. Then Logan had the smart idea of flinging me into the water in my jeans and shirt." She shot Logan an annoyed look. He smiled at her in return, batting his eyelashes mockingly.

"I'm sure Veronica wouldn't mind." Jess answered simply. "And shame on you for trying to ditch your best friend." He shouted the last part because the two were a few feet away from them already. Addy just made a face at him and then smiled.

Jess was looking after the two as they disappeared into the house. He turned his attention to Hunter, who was still staring after the couple.

"I guess you are going to get your meeting." Jess quietly stated.

"What?" Hunter focused on Jess.

"The meeting you were asking for with her. The very same one she's been dodging. But you made sure she won't avoid it. Hell you even hired Vinnie Van Lowe, to get her to talk to you." Jess grimaced in displeasure.

"How do you know about all those things?" an incredulous look was on Hunter's face.

"I tried to get you to just meet with me. But no, you wanted Adriana Townsend. Well pal, I have to say, you should have accepted the meeting with me. It would have been more painless than what's to come." Jess then turned his back on Hunter and headed back into the house.

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AN2: There you have it folks. End of chapter 13. As I mentioned earlier, this chapter went off in a completely different direction. I was supposed to start setting up the Rogan with an Echolls twist but something must have compelled me to write this instead. But worry not, I have worked everything out. The Logan Echolls and Rory hook up will become inevitable in the upcoming chapters. I hope the Hunter/Logan thing wasn't so confusing. And yes, Huntzberger and Addy know each other, you'll know just how much soon enough. Thanks for reading. Sorry for the J thing btw, the add ruler wasn't working.

To my reviewers:

shotswithMrsKim: Thanks for the review, and I glad to that you are liking the Rory and Logan E interaction. There will be more of that I promise you. As for Huntzberger not being nice and everything, we'll he will be seen in a different light soon enough. I am a sucker for a happy endings and it is not in me to deny him a happy ending.

LoVe23: Yes I do know that you have me in your top favorite stories and I truly appreciate it. Pat yourself on the back because it was mostly your reviews that kept this story going. And thanks for saying I got Logan E's voice down. I try to write them as I know them, so watching the VM reruns helped a lot. And the discord between Logan E and Hunter, as I'd like to call him, will become more evident in the upcoming chapter (which I already finished, thank you very much, ah...the things you can do while on vacation). I'm so glad you like the story and hopefully you won't be so disappointed with this chapter, despite the lack of Rory-Logan interaction, I promise you there is a point to this. Try not to get caught reading at work okay, I wouldn't want my favorite reviewer to get in trouble ;).

tylerhiltongrupie53: Thanks for the review as always. Sorry for the lack of V/J in this chapter, but they won't be missing for long, after all they are getting married. Thanks again, I appreciate the feedback.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I have a longer AN at the end of the chapter. So on with the story...

Jess couldn't help the grim smile on his face as he took out a six pack from the fridge as per Veronica's orders. He can't help but want to be somewhere else. Hell he'd give anything to join the Gilmores, his uncle and his family for dinner if he could have avoided this night.

Okay maybe he was exaggerating a little bit. After all everyone from the group has been acting relatively polite; the conversations may be a bit strained but at least there _were_ conversations.

Veronica seemed to be enjoying herself well enough. But her smile turned into a frown when Wallace said he had to pick up his girlfriend at the airport. She flat out refused to loan him the LeBaron and Addy had to offer her Honda Hybrid just so he can go on his way. This resulted in a not so pleased look on Veronica's face.

Addy on the other hand was just a regular social butterfly. She talked to everyone; even Eli can't resist the charms of the dark-haired girl, she managed to charm him into dancing with her. Despite their earlier encounter, Addy and Hunter had their upbringing to fall back on; the two politely made small talk as little as possible.

Rory was treating Hunter like an acquaintance, barely acknowledging his presence. If Jess hadn't learned a lot over the years of talking to people in his line of work he would have allowed Hunter to feel isolated. But he did learn and he was glad that the rest of the group followed his lead of including Hunter.

Hunter was, to be fair, trying hard. He apologized to Rory in front of everyone but Rory stubbornly refused to budge. Jess had to talk Rory into acting civil to her boyfriend. And she only did when he bribed her with a sneak preview of his new book.

Mac and Dick, for the two ceased to be thought of as individuals but rather as one. Their presence made Jess' job, of keeping everything neat and tidy, easier. The two bantered like they were teenagers with bottled-up sexual tension, effectively amusing everyone with their antics. Dick insisted that Mac feed him, that it would be sweet, Mac asked if he was incompetent and he retorted that he showed her how competent he was just that afternoon, causing Mac to blush deeply and upend the bowlful of salad onto Dick's lap.

Carmen, boy was Jess glad she was there. She kept Eli in check. Jess could tell that there might be another wedding soon, if the way the deputy is looking at his girlfriend is any indication. He knew he had the same look as he thought of ways to propose to Veronica the year before.

Logan was not acting like himself. When they fired up the grill earlier that evening Logan was all about Addy. He kept to her side as though he was worried that she would disappear. Jess can't blame him though; his best friend had talent for running away, one of the many things she had in common with Veronica.

Just as he was about to tell Logan that he and Addy were supposed to be having a non-relationship relationship Addy got to him first. Logan frowned for a few minutes and then nodded in her direction. So the rest of Logan's night was spent on flirting with all the ladies save for Addy and Rory. Carmen was flattered but took it for what it was, time spent for the sake of spending time. Mac was not fazed by Logan's act, and treated him with sardonic superiority. Veronica recognized Logan's action for what it was; a distraction from the other girl. She smiled at him indulgently and flirted right back, thus the grim smile that Jess has been sporting for most of the night.

Rory was fortunately spared from any of Logan's advances. It was probably more because she was new rather than the hostile glances that Hunter was shooting Logan whenever he came near Rory. But Logan treated her with such friendly candor that she could not honestly be hurt that he wasn't flirting with her.

Jess went back outside carrying the alcohol with him; Dick took it from him and placed it inside the cooler. He joined Veronica at the table and she flashed him a worried smile.

"Turn that frown upside down Mariano." She commented teasingly.

"Only if you turn off that charm of your Mars." Jess rolled his eyes as he retorted.

Veronica smiled at him and her eyes sparkled at the knowledge that he was jealous.

"You're jealous." She teased him.

"Whatever." Jess shrugged easily.

"You are. That's so sweet." She slid closer to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Sweet? I'm not jealous. I just don't find it amusing to see my bride and my groomsman flirting endlessly." He muttered darkly.

"Yes you are. And I'm so sorry for flirting with another man. But it was more like old habits dying hard than actual flirting. Besides, I reserve all my flirting skills on you." She grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulders.

Jess just rolled his eyes at her but kept his arm around her shoulder, squeezing it gently to reassure her that he was not upset with her at all.

"Look at them. They are trying so hard to appear like non-couple but you could see something there." Veronica nodded in Addy and Logan's direction, who were with different groups. Addy was sitting with Mac while Logan was sitting with Eli and Carmen.

Jess was quiet as he watched Addy get up and walk towards Hunter. He desperately wanted to go with her, but he knew she had to do this by herself.

"She's talking to Hunter now? She tried all night to avoid any conversation with him unless it was absolutely necessary. Do they know each other?" Veronica shot Jess a questioning look.

Jess sighed deeply and focused on her, "Yes they know each other."

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"Mr. Huntzberger." Adriana nodded at Hunter.

"Ms. Townsend." He greeted back.

"I'm assuming that you already received a call for that meeting that you wanted."

"Yes I did."

"Good. Will you be able to make it?"

"I think that can be arranged."

"Good. I'll see you then." She nodded again and was about to walk away.

"Adriana…"

She looked back and shot him an expectant look.

"I'm sorry; I forgot what I was going to say." Hunter frowned at his actions. Addy just nodded coolly and went on her way.

Rory saw the encounter and could not help the curiosity that burst through her.

"What was that all about?" she sat next to Hunter.

"We just arranged a business meeting." Hunter was still staring at Addy.

"You have business with her?" Rory's brows furrowed.

"No, more like competition. And her company has been beating us for a while now." Hunter finally looked at Rory.

"Don't you mean Jess is? Jess had been handling the publishing side of the Townsend estate."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Addy hates that side of the business, she's only taking over while Jess got married."

"She hates it?"

"Yeah, apparently she wanted nothing to do with the publishing side of her grandfather's estate. She handed it to Jess with no qualms at all. I guess that's friendship for you." Rory shrugged.

Hunter looked thoughtful as Rory finished her narrative. Then he took her hand in his and apologized again.

"It's okay. I'm sorry if I lost my temper. I was just having fun; I didn't mean to exclude you from what I was doing." Rory smiled weakly at him.

"I know. I just wanted to spend some time with you. And who wouldn't be jealous of that guy?" Hunter nodded in Logan's direction.

"You're jealous of Logan?" a look of comic disbelief flashed across Rory's features.

"Well…"

"He is totally into Addy. So don't worry about him making moves on me." Rory remarked.

"Are they dating?" a curious look appeared on Hunter's face, he saw the two making out earlier but once the grill was fired up they acted like they barely knew each other.

"Somewhat. Apparently they are not a couple officially. Unofficially they are definitely traveling in the realms of couple hood."

"And you know this how?"

"Hey don't knock my talent as a journalist. The first day I got here Logan told me all about his relationship with Addy." Rory nudged him playfully.

"He told you everything?" Hunter cast a skeptical look at his girlfriend.

"Probably not everything. But he said enough to let me know that he's totally head over heels for Addy."

"She seems nice." Hunter commented offhandedly.

"She is nice." Rory agreed wholeheartedly.

"You've spent a lot of time with her?"

"No not really. Most of the time she's gone, I guess taking over for Jess takes a lot of her time. But when she's here she's a riot. The way she and Jess banter, it's like they're brother and sister. And she reads a lot too, that's why I get along with her I guess. And these guys, they absolutely adore her, they treat her like their kid sister, except for Logan who treats her completely non-sibling like." Rory thought of the midnight rendezvous she kept hearing about.

"It's strange to see you completely taken with those guys." Hunter nodded towards the group.

Dick cranked up the volume of the boom box. All of them have paired off, Jess and Veronica, Mac and Dick, Eli and Carmen and finally Addy and Logan, although the two made a show of cringing as they attempted to dance, effectively making everyone else laugh.

"I know. When I first got here I felt like mom, Luke and I were completely outnumbered. But they treated us like they knew us forever. So I feel comfortable with them. Come on, let's join them."

Rory stood up and grabbed his hand. Hunter hesitated for a second. Rory shot him a mock stern look and tugged at his hand. He finally followed her, albeit reluctantly.

Once they joined the dancing Hunter relaxed. He found himself having a great time.

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TUESDAY

Lorelai sighed dramatically. Luke rolled his eyes from where he was sitting.

"It's too early to sleep." Lorelai whined grumpily.

"Its eleven thirty already Lorelai." Luke replied as he continued to fiddle with the remote from the bed.

"I know. But we did nothing today. We stayed in all day and we had an early dinner. It's so unlike of Jess and Veronica not to have a plan for today." Lorelai continued to complain.

"Will and Richie loved swimming, which constitutes as something." Luke continued to look for something good to watch.

"Yeah, that was a good part of the day." She can't disagree with her husband. Seeing the twins giggle and squeal in delight while they were in the water made her long for a pool in her own home.

"You should have joined them." Luke continued.

"I didn't feel like swimming earlier." Lorelai replied childishly.

"Well it's too late now."

"Maybe we can go night swimming."

"Too cold."

"The pool is heated."

"Lorelai."

"Luke."

Their exchange was interrupted by a chirping. They exchanged puzzled looks and both got up from the bed, looking for where the sound was coming from. Lorelai walked towards the table at the corner of the room. She opened the drawer and saw a tiny cell phone.

"This isn't yours." Lorelai picked up the phone and showed it to Luke.

"It's not mine." Luke shrugged.

Lorelai shrugged too and opened the phone; she saw that there was an unread message.

"Please change into a pair of jeans and shirt. And wait for further instructions in the foyer." She read from the message.

"What the hell!" Luke walked towards her.

The phone chirped again and another message was sent.

"Change clothes now, ask questions later." Luke read over Lorelai's shoulder.

Lorelai put the phone down and headed for the closet. Luke gave her an incredulous look.

"You're going to follow the orders of a phone." Luke asked her as he followed her into the closet.

"Why not? That's the perfect cure for the restlessness that we're feeling; besides this may be the reason why Jess did not plan out the day." Lorelai commented lightly as she selected the clothes she was going to wear.

Luke sighed wearily but followed his wife's lead. Once they were done changing Lorelai picked the phone up and then they headed for the foyer.

Once they got there they saw Jess, Veronica, Logan Huntzberger, Rory, Logan Echolls, Mac and Dick. Some of them were holding cell phones, awaiting instructions.

"You didn't sneak out to see Addy?" Jess asked Logan wryly.

"She said she's busy." Logan replied a little impatiently.

Lorelai walked over to Rory and asked her what was going on. Her daughter just shrugged in return.

The phone that Jess was holding beeped. He read the message and frowned.

"What does it say?" Veronica nudged him.

"It says to go outside, through the door that leads to the gardens."

The group did as the phone asked and once they got there three golf carts were standing by.

"Is this a joke?" Hunter can't help but ask.

"This has Addy written all over it." Jess remarked quietly.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's get going." Logan smirked at Jess observation.

He headed for the first golf cart. Mac and Dick followed him. Jess and Veronica took the second one. Hunter got in the wheel of the last one, Rory sat next to him and Luke and Lorelai took the back seats.

Once everyone was settled in their seats a path was suddenly lit, the one they were obviously supposed to take. The drive took about five minutes. The group then looked at each other wondering what they were supposed to do next.

Jess' phone chirped again and it instructed them to go into the house. Jess sighed heavily but did as the phone said. He led everyone in the house and when they reached the foyer no one was there.

"What's going on?" Rory's brow wrinkled in wonder.

Before anyone can reply to her question Wallace came strolling in. He smiled at everyone and winked at Veronica. He refused to say anything as he led them to the living room. Inside were Addy, Eli, Carmen and Natasha, the girlfriend he picked up the day before. He insisted that they stay over at Addy's once Natasha joined them for the wedding.

"Welcome you guys." Addy smiled warmly at everyone, and then her gaze settled on Jess.

"You guys may be wondering why we asked you to come here." Wallace commented as he joined Addy.

"The thought crossed our minds." Veronica frowningly replied.

"According to Veronica's itinerary the bachelor and bachelorette party is on Friday, the day before the wedding." Addy began.

"It's not exactly the best time to have a party. Especially if you're going to drink like there's no tomorrow." Wallace continued.

"Jess and I are not really fond of drinking anyway." Veronica interrupted.

"You may not be, but we really preferred to give you two a proper send off to matrimonial bliss." Wallace interjected.

"So Wallace and I have been planning for an alternative send off for you crazy kids since you announced that you were getting married."

"Townie here and I even traded roles, but only for tonight. For tonight, I am the best man and she is the maid of honor."

"That way we can get the raunchy behavior out of the way. Before my parents get here, while Uncle Rich and Aunt Em are asleep..."

"And Keith Mars is out of town." Wallace concluded.

"So what are we going to do now?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Outside the doors are two limousines. They will take us to our destinations. Just in case anyone is wondering this will be a separate activity. The bachelor will go to a different place from where the bachelorette is going." Addy stated.

"The phones will be a means of communication. At exactly four o clock the party coordinators, that'll be Addy and me, will contact each other. The limos will head back here and then we have exactly five hours to sleep and attempt to appear alert for Mr. Mars' inspection." Wallace gave them a warning look as he said the last part.

"Just in case, we provided a bag of essentials in the limo. There will be a pair of sunglasses, a bottle of aspirin and a thermos of hair of the dog." Addy smiled mischievously.

"That said, on with the party." Wallace hollered excitedly.

The group began to disperse towards the front door. There was a murmur of excitement. Addy was one of the last to proceed towards the door. Logan stayed behind so he could talk to her.

"So how come I didn't know about this?" he crossed his arms across his chest, his brows raised questioningly.

"This was a best maid and patron of honor thing." She shrugged in reply.

"Okay. I just want some fair warning next time." Logan took her hand in his.

"There won't be a next time. Jess is my only best friend after all." She smiled at him.

"It's too bad you're not organizing the bachelor's party. It would have been so hot." He grinned at her suggestively.

"Mind out of the gutter Logan, besides I'd rather not hang around at the Seventh Veil, watching you guys ogle strippers." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Is that where we're going? Kind of tacky." Logan frowned in distaste.

"This coming from a man who would go to Tijuana to see the same thing." She pinched him playfully.

Logan's frown deepened as he rubbed the spot that Addy pinched.

"Besides Wallace knows better, I told him to spare no expense for Jess."

"If only you are this generous with me." He placed his arm around her shoulders and pinched her nose with his free hand.

"Don't worry, if you ever have a bachelor party I'll make sure you have yours somewhere fabulous." She grinned at him audaciously.

"I'm sure Dick would do an adequate job." Logan rolled his eyes at her, "Although if you're the stripper then nothing would top that." He smirked at her.

"Okay, as long as you are fine with the rest of your friends see me strip." She jokingly replied.

Logan grimaced, "On the second thought make it a one on one performance and I'll tell you that it's fabulous."

Addy shook her head in amusement, "Come on, they're waiting for us. Don't drink too much okay?"

"I won't." he rolled his eyes at her.

"If you behave then I'll give you that solo performance that you want." She leaned her head on his shoulder to look him in the eye.

"Throw in some chocolate sauce and it's a done deal." Logan bargained.

"Deal." Addy held her hand out for him to shake. But Logan pulled her to him and kissed her soundly.

"Go on, before I tag along to that bachelorette party of yours." He released her from his hold and pushed her gently towards the door.

"Only if you give us a strip tease." She turned towards him and smiled cheekily.

"Funny girl." He rolled his eyes at her and then proceeded to the first limo.

AN2: Thanks for reading. I posted today in celebration of the release of Veronica Mars Season 2. So I'll be posting again on Thursday. I was wondering why I'm writing more and more of Addy and Logan, and then I realized it more has more to do with proving that they are more than casual, that underneath all the denial is something real. I know I'm setting myself up for more complications but I'm hoping that it'll all work out. So thanks as always for the feedback.

To my reviewers:

XoX C-Line: Thanks for the review. I always appreciate the feedback. I'm so glad that you liked the V/J pairing. I've come to love them together. So you'll keep seeing them in this story.

Problem Child1: Three in reviews in one. Thanks a bunch. I'm glad that you armed up to the idea of RoganE. I was so annoyed with LH using Ace all the time that I just couldn't help myself. I'm not really sure how to incorporate Vinnie in the story, but I'm not ruling anything out, I love me some Vinnie too. I know how despicable LH can be so I did a bit of character revisions to make him a bit more likable. So the upcoming chapters would hopefully do just that. Again thanks for the review.

breakfastclubjedi: Aw thanks. It took watching reruns and watching the reruns of the reruns to achieve this. Although the two shows have been making it more difficult for me, Gilmore Girls and VM are both playing two episodes every Tuesday. Tough choice.

shotswith MrsKim: Thanks for the feedback, I have to tell you that I am also having a tough time with the impending breakup of Addy and Logan. I guess it had a lot to do with the fact that they are absolutely entertaining. I basically combined Veronica and Rory, that's how I came up with the Addy character. I'll be sad when they actually breakup but the resolution is almost worth it.

tylerhiltongrupie53: I have a pretty good idea of how she'll look like, it's all a matter of being able to translate it into words. I still have no idea how many chapters it'll take before the wedding day but I did begin a countdown and this chapter ended with a Tuesday, or more like Wednesday. The wedding is on Saturday so that's four days. But there will be a lot going on in between that I'm still not sure. Thnaks for the feedback.

LoVe23: Your review as always is much appreciated. And you're right I did practically write this fic for you, your reviews kept me going. Other readers are warming up to the idea of RoganE, so that kind of set everything in stone. I have to say it's like you are reading my mind, you've caught most of the hints that I've been dropping in this fic, the Landon thing would be explained two chapters from now, just a heads up. Thanks for the review and for the trust. Good thinking in reading and reviewing when everyone else is out to lunch btw. ;) Thanks for the review!  



	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: As promised here's Chapter 15 of A lifetime ago...

WEDNESDAY

It was ten in the morning when Keith Mars entered the Mariano household. He went into the foyer and found it empty. He proceeded towards the living room and saw no one. His brow wrinkled in confusion. Jess normally woke up early and by nine Veronica was already out and about.

He went to the library and saw Richard Gilmore, reading quietly. He left the room as silently as possible. He went to the dark room just in case Veronica was already busy with her photography, but it was still locked. He went upstairs and checked the master's bedroom and he finally saw his daughter's sleeping form.

Something was definitely up. Keith shook his head in disapproval; he closed the door to the room and heard a noise coming from the game room.

He entered the room and saw two four year olds playing with a game cube. Beside them was Emily Gilmore cheering them on. Just as he was about to leave them in peace Emily turned and spotted him.

"You're the bride's father."

"I am."

"Everyone is still sleeping. There must be a bug going around, I tried to wake Lorelai up but all she did was grumble. Luke, who usually wakes up early, is also still asleep. And Rory locked her door, I tried knocking but she won't open it. Honestly, they were perfectly fine last night." She shook her head in exasperation.

"Grandma, look." Will interrupted Emily and pointed to the television.

"Good job." She smiled at her grandson.

"He's cheating." Richie whined.

"Now, now Richie, I'm sure Will isn't cheating. Just play nice." Emily smiled at her other grandson.

"If you'll excuse me I'm going to try and see if anyone else is awake yet." Keith shot Emily a smile and proceeded towards the door.

A suspicious look dawned on his face as he closed the door. He went down the stairs and into the dining room. He smiled to himself and sat down and proceeded to eat. He picked up the paper and started reading.

He was just about done with breakfast when Logan strolled into the dining room.

"Keith. You're back." Logan looked surprised.

"I remember telling everyone I'd be back by today." Keith replied.

"Yeah, it must have slipped my mind. So how was your trip?" Logan asked he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Productive. And nice try, but nothing will keep me from asking you how the party was." Keith gave Logan a disapproving look.

"Party? What party?" Logan schooled his features to give nothing away.

"The party that kept most of you kids, including Luke and Lorelai, in bed until ten thirty in the morning." Keith leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for Logan to come clean.

"Okay, what gave it away? As you can see I am not at all hung over." Logan gestured towards his being.

"Well, the bags under your eyes give it away, your slow movement suggests fatigue and finally Addy told me that she was planning the party many moons ago." Keith smirked at Logan.

"I can't believe she told you. And last night Wallace was going on and on that we should look presentable for today." Logan rolled his eyes.

"So you slept over there?" Keith's brow furrowed in protection mode.

"I did and so did Jess, Weevil, Carmen, Wallace and Natasha. So you can drop the protective act." Logan retorted.

"Fine. So is Jess awake yet or is he like Veronica, who is still sleeping soundly?

"He's awake. He and Addy barely slept. I think they're going over some business stuff." Logan answered as he picked up a bagel.

Keith got up from his chair, "I'm going to wake my daughter up. She has her final fitting today at two. I'll see you later."

"Yeah you will, if you happen to pass by at Addy's place or if we come over here."

"Why would you be there?"

"Jess wanted her parents to stay here; so to make this house a little less crowded I decided to stay there."

"Just no funny stuff." Keith looked at him warningly.

Logan raised his hands in mock surrender, "No funny stuff Sheriff." Keith looked at him through narrowed eyes and then left him to wake Veronica up.

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Veronica munched on her bagel thoughtfully. Her dad remained elusive about his trip. But she did not exactly have time to dwell on it; she was getting married in three days. She was starting to feel butterflies in her stomach.

The party at the early hours of the morning was what made everything feel real. She smiled in recollection. It was fun having Addy as her substitute maid of honor. Her fiancée's best friend did not disappoint. After presenting her with gifts for the wedding, which would be presented all over again on Friday, the male strippers arrived. Now she doesn't normally like those kinds of things but having _Thunder from Down Under _as their entertainment changed her mind if only for a little bit.

Veronica smiled again. And that's how Jess found her, smiling blankly into the air. He placed a kiss on her forehead, she looked at him as if surprised that he was even there.

"What's on today's agenda?" he asked as he sat next to her.

Veronica tilted her head at him and grinned, "My very last fitting."

"You may want to ease up on those bagels then. Just in case." Jess smirked at her.

"What did you say?" Veronica had an astonished look on her face.

"Forgive me." Jess took her hand in his and kissed it repeatedly.

Veronica snatched her hand away and mock pouted. She took a big bite of her bagel and gave him a pointed look.

"I didn't mean it. You know I didn't mean it." He took her hand again. He gave her a sad look and Veronica can't help but roll her eyes at her fiancé.

"I'm sorry." Jess repeated the phrase over and over again. Finally Veronica pinched his cheek in mock consternation.

"Fine, just no more digs on my eating habits okay?" she chided teasingly.

"I promise never to comment on your food intake. Never ever." Jess nodded wholeheartedly.

"What's in your agenda today?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going with you. Picking up that tux, finally. I think your dad, Luke and the twins are going for a final fitting. I think Richard will be going as well. Why don't you and the ladies go shopping today?" Jess suggested.

"You're spending way too much already." Veronica frowned warily.

"We only get married once. Theoretically." Jess grinned at her.

"Besides Uncle Jay and Aunt Ri are paying for the wedding. They would have force fed the money to us if we refused. So go ahead, live a little." Jess nudged her gently.

"Fine, I'll spend your money." Veronica sighed dramatically.

"Our money soon enough." Jess tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"What about Addy? She's not going for her final fitting?" Veronica gave him a puzzled look.

"She has a meeting with Huntzberger. So he's staying too. Logan has a meeting also; someone's pitching a movie idea to him. That's why they were gone all day yesterday. Those two already picked up their outfits for the wedding." Jess shrugged in reply.

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Logan Huntzberger was dressed in one of his best suits. He wondered if he should walk over to Addy's house but when he got to the foyer there was a driver waiting for him. The car took him to Addy's in two minutes.

He was welcomed by a man in a suit. The man introduced himself as Carter, Addy's assistant. Carter ushered him to the study. Hunter walked inside and saw no one. When the door was shut the chair behind the oak table turned. Sitting on it was Adriana Townsend. Hunter put on his business face and was ready to proceed.

Addy got up to shake his hand and gestured for him to take a seat, when she stood up Hunter felt his confidence slip a little. It was a business meeting and he had dressed accordingly. Addy seemed to have a different idea, she was wearing a sleeveless tank top and a washed out jeans, Hunter felt a little relieved to see that she was not wearing flip flops, she was actually wearing running shoes, slightly better than flip flops.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" she inquired politely.

Hunter nodded. She picked up the phone and talked quietly. It was not even a minute when Carter came back in with a pot of coffee and some pastries.

Once they were settled and alone Addy nodded in his direction. Hunter felt annoyance at the gesture, but he proceeded anyway.

"I'm glad you finally agreed to meet with me." He began.

"You wanted this meeting so badly." She shrugged in response.

"What I'd like to know is what changed your mind. You've been very elusive whenever I tried to meet with you."

"Mrs. Gilmore asked me if you could come, I said yes and here you are."

"That's it. After fighting it for a year you just say yes because of Emily?"

Addy nodded and that was it.

"Very well. I'd like for Writers' Inc to back off. Your company has been taking our authors for the last three years. While I appreciate healthy competition, your company has made it a point to steal our writers." Hunter leaned back in his seat and waited for her response.

"We never stole any of your writers. All of their contracts have expired when they entertained the idea of shifting companies." She replied curtly.

"Come on, you've made it your life's mission to topple our publishing company." He can't help the hostile tone that his voice has taken.

"First of all, the Huntzbergers' never really cared for the publishing house. In fact your father has devoted all his time on the newspaper business. Secondly, you only took interest in that aspect of your business when you started losing your authors to Writers' Inc." was her cool response.

"Our company has been enjoying relative success, but ever since you took over for your grandfather's estate three years ago the company has been suffering." His eyes flashed in anger.

"Then you can blame Jess for that. I had nothing to do with WI until a week ago. I prefer to focus on other parts of my grandfather's estate."

"Yeah right. You expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with WI's success." He remarked sarcastically.

"Believe it or not your company is not the only publishing house that lost some of its writers to WI. Jess is an exceptional business man and he loves the company."

"So you're saying that this has nothing to do with your family's vendetta against my family."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Both my parents and I have refused to have anything to do with that feud your family and mine have engaged in. My grandfather felt strongly about what happened that no one could stop him from buying out your competition and building Writers' Inc. But now that it has passed hands WI is no longer a form of weapon against your family. It is a legitimate business conducted for the sake of business. In three days it will cease to be a Townsend company. If you wish to continue blaming WI for your losses you will have to take it up with the CEO and soon to be sole owner of the company, Jess Mariano."

"You're giving it up?" an incredulous look was plastered on his face.

"I never really cared for it. Jess loves it so I'm giving it to him as a wedding gift." She stated plainly.

"So that's it, almost a decade of the feud and its over."

"The feud was your father and my grandfather's doing." She shot him a pointed look.

"Do you even care about the feud at all? After all it was mostly about you." he looked irritated at the way everything was going.

"So how's Colin, Finn and Damien?" she leaned back and looked at him through her lashes.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hunter looked sincerely confused at the sudden change of topics.

"I don't know you tell me. You are so ready to attribute the feud to me. So how are they doing these days?" she asked him sardonically.

"Colin and Finn are fine. I haven't heard from Damien in years." His brows furrowed at the turn of the conversation.

"Really? You haven't heard from him in years. Nine years perhaps." Her voice had a trace of impatience.

"Yes. He was shipped off to Europe before junior year, haven't heard from him since."

"Well how about that? Nine years since Damien was exiled. Nine years since Papi set up WI." She gave him a condescending look.

"Are you telling me that this damn feud was over Damien?" Hunter crossed his arms across his chest and was showing signs of impatience as well.

"Your father never tells you anything." Addy shook her head in amazement.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That's why you had the gall to call me the next morning and leave such an asshole worthy message." This time amusement was written all over her face.

"What are you talking about Bella?" Hunter was growing impatient.

"Nine years ago you invited me to that college party of yours. The next day you called, you berated my poor machine with your numerous profanities. You have no idea." She smiled at him bitterly.

"You didn't show up. I was angry. I didn't expect things to end because of what I said." He looked at Addy angrily.

"I was fourteen and you asked me to go to a college party. I told you I didn't want to go. But you insisted. And when Logan Huntzberger insists, it must be done. You didn't even bother to wait for me at the door. Your friends saw me and told me they'd take me to you." She was shaking her head as she spoke.

Hunter remained quiet; he could tell that there was a huge revelation waiting at the end of her narrative.

"They told me you were waiting for me in a room in the second floor. When I got there, you weren't there."

"So you left?" he asked a little annoyed

"No. I was told to wait. Colin and Finn said they'd fetch you for me and Damien said he'd wait with me. And what do you know; he wanted to get past third base and right into a home run." She laughed humorlessly.

Hunter was shocked; he thought she was too busy with her G-rated boyfriend to see him nine years ago. He never knew that she was at the party while he was getting drunk off his ass because she didn't bother to come.

"He said it was supposed to be a joke afterwards. Good thing Brad came in. Otherwise I would have been scarred for life." This time her voice took a lighthearted tone.

Hunter knew she was referring to her bodyguard, the same bodyguard that she insisted she didn't need when she was thirteen. His knuckles were turning white as he balled his hands into fists.

"My grandfather wanted to press charges. Your father said he'd take care of it. Next day Damien has gone AWOL. Papi was so mad; everyone was worried he'd have a stroke." She shook her head at the memory.

She focused on him, "Your father told Damien's dad that he should send him away. He also told them that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute anyway. Never mind that I had bruises all over my body, and hickeys too, I got my first hickey from him. Apparently if Brad hadn't come in, what he did would constitute as a heinous crime, me being fourteen and all. Good ole Mitchum even told Papi that maybe Brad should have entered the room ten minutes later, and then we would have a case." She spoke clearly and carefully.

Hunter stood up abruptly, tearing his gaze away from her. He remembered the drunken phone call he made to her, how he called her names and insulted her every which way he knew. He turned away from her in shame. Addy remained seated and waited for him to process everything.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered hoarsely.

"I was told not to have contact with you whatsoever." She shrugged even though he could not see her.

"You should have told me." He faced her and he can't help the guilt that rushed through him.

"Yeah, because it was the easiest conversation to have. Hey Hunter, your friend almost raped me. Wanna grab a cup of coffee? Doesn't quite seem right." She was acting like everything she said meant nothing.

"I deserved to know. After all it affected me too." He ran his hand through his hair unconsciously.

"Know what? That was years ago. Why don't we just let bygones be bygones?" She suggested with such offhandedness.

Hunter looked at her in disbelief, "The bastard almost raped you. I lost you and you want to forget everything."

"I had nine years to deal." She replied flatly.

"I'll kill him." He paced around the room.

"Who? Damien? You can't he's a father now." She was nonchalant.

"I'd still kill him and my dad too, for what he did to you." He stopped his pacing and faced her again.

"Really you don't have to do anything. I'm so over it." She rolled her eyes at him.

"How can you say that? When everything that happened made you hate me."

"I don't hate you Hunter."

"Yes you do. And I deserve it too."

"Seriously, if you don't stop with that attitude I'd have to ship you back to the East coast. We don't need any negativity; we are here for a wedding after all." She looked at him firmly.

"Why aren't you outraged?" he asked her in frustration.

"Nine years." She responded quietly.

"I have to make this better. You have to let me make this better." He walked towards her, ignoring the way she flinched as he kneeled and touched her arm.

"I don't want you to do anything."

"Please let me make it better." He pleaded with her.

"Am I interrupting something?" Logan Echolls asked from the door.

"Yes. He was just proposing to me and I was going to say yes. Impeccable timing as usual Logan." Addy shook her head in mock consternation.

Hunter stood up and ran his hand through his hair again; he did not exactly welcome the distraction that was Logan Echolls.

"Now Addy, what have I told you? No proposals until six in the evening. And only if it's from me." Logan wagged his finger at her in disapproval.

Addy looked at her watch, "Aren't you a little early? I thought that you'd be gone until four."

"The script stunk. Not worth my time. If I had known that you would need more time for this rendezvous I would have cruised the streets of Neptune a little longer." He stated agreeably.

"Well I was just about to call you but here you are." She stood from the chair and walked towards Logan. Hunter was oblivious to their exchange; it was as if he went somewhere else.

"So what's going on? And you better not say he's proposing again, that won't go over well the second time." Logan looked at her skeptically.

Addy smiled at him, seemingly amused "It won't?"

"No it won't." Logan grinned at her and placed a kiss on the corner of her lips.

"He was practicing for when he asks Rory?" she asked him optimistically. He shook his head at her smilingly, she shot him a hopeful smile and he just shook his head again. She gave him a pouting look, he shook his head again. She put on her full force doe eyed look and Logan guffawed in disbelief, "I give up." He uttered as he wrapped his arms around her.

"So are you done here?" he directed the question at both Hunter and Addy, putting his arm around the latter's shoulders.

Addy looked at Hunter questioningly. He nodded in acquiesce.

"I have phone calls to make." Hunter replied curtly and walked out of the study.

AN2: Thank you folks for reading. Honestly as I was writing this fic, I never thought it would come out like this. I was a bit hesitant to write in what almost happened to Addy, but eventually I decided that it was necessary. I needed something to make the feud between the Huntzbergers and the Townsends real. The end result is this chapter. The parellels between her and Veronica is becoming too much, that's why I almost rejected this idea. But it is what it is. And I had to make Mitchum the bad guy, even if at the season finale of Gilmore Girls everything he said to Rory made sense to me. I still don't like him for inspiring the painful separation between Lorelai and Rory and it's obviously reflected in this fic. Anyway, thanks for reading as always.

To my reviewers:

breakfastclubjedi: Thanks for the review. I always thought that there would be a bit of change in the characters as they grow older, but not so much that they'd become unrecognizable, it is through that logic that I write about them. And I'm so glad that the merger between WB and UPN happened. Now I get to watch my two fave shows on the same channel and on the same night. Superfun! Thanks again for reviewing.

Problem Child1: I always make it a point to buy the DVDs on the week that they've been released, much cheaper! I appreciate the feedback, and I figured that not everyone would like Addy. This chapter pretty much showed her hidden depths, the next update would further reinforce that. I try to write with a reason, so there is a bit of foreshadowing. I promise that there is a logic to her insanity, I mean if you had a chance with Logan you wouldn't just throw it all away right? So she's gotta be insane or she...you'll find out in the next chapter. But I'm not promising that it will make her more likable, you'll just understand where she's coming from. Anyway, I always appreciate the feedback so keep em coming.

shotswith MrsKim: Thanks for the review, short and concise. I appreciate it.

LoVe23: You totally get me! And you are right in pointing out that Rory needs to see LoganE with someone else, it would show how much he can offer. And now after reading this you know what happened between Addy and LH, although in the upcoming chapters LH's side will be told, that and more. As for the two Logans not liking each other, well it will become more heated...now, now I won't ruin it for you. It'll be up by next week. As for LH admiting that Logan is hot, well someone had to, might as well be him. I just had to add that, just for the heck of it. Thanks for the review as always. I'm so glad you like this story even if it's a non-LoVe and non-Trory, it makes your review even more special! Thanks again!

tylerhiltongrupie53: I thought about writing about the parties but made a choice of just alluding to it, which is what Veronica did in this chapter. But there will be more alluding in a couple of chapters, after all the bachelor party was not mentioned at all. I was trying to come up with something over the top, having the Thunder from down Under seemed appropriate for the ladies, after all those guys have their Vegas show. As for the guys, well I will expound on that when we get to FRIDAY. Sorry for not including the antics in this chapter. But I did write in Jess and Veronica specially for you, I could actually see them in my head playing out the conversation they had in this chapter. I hope you weren't to disappointed. Thanks for reviewing as always..  



	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Here is another chapter of A lifetime Ago...

Logan sneaked a look at her. She was leaning against him and was entirely too quiet. Normally whenever they watch a movie she took the time to thoroughly mock it until she becomes completely engrossed.

She has been closed off since her meeting with Hunter. He tried to find out what brought Hunter to his knees but she continued to make a joke of everything.

They had coffee with Jess and the rest of the guests when they got back from LA. Hunter was noticeably absent, which he pointed out to Addy once they were back at her place. She just shrugged in response and suggested that they watch a movie.

That's exactly what they've been doing for the past hour. He could tell that she wasn't really paying attention. She was off somewhere else and he was desperate to restore the camaraderie that they've had ever since they started spending time together again.

"So…" he began.

"Hmm?" Addy looked up at him.

"Your parents. They're arriving tomorrow."

"Yup." She looked back at the TV.

"So…what's the plan?"

"Plan for what?" she pulled away from him and gave him a questioning look.

"For when your parents get here, what are we going to tell them?"

Her brows wrinkled in confusion.

"You know, about us. What are we going to tell them if they ask about us?" Logan was beginning to feel exasperated at her evasiveness.

"What is there to tell?" she smiled at him quizzically.

"The fact that we've been making out like there's no tomorrow for the last eleven days, that the subject of sex has been brought to the table. You're asking me what is there to tell." He rolled his eyes at her attitude.

"I don't know." She gave him an impatient look.

"So you vote that we tell me them nothing then. Meanwhile, when I pull you to the dance floor on Jess and Veronica's wedding day and proceed to give you a passionate kiss, one of your parents' body guards will drag me away from you."

"Why would you do that anyway? What brought this on? We were getting along fairly well the last few days. And now this…"

"Fairly well? Here I thought we were actually going to start a relationship." He shook his head bitterly.

"Not this again. I thought we agreed to keep it casual."

"Casual, we've been doing this for the last year and a half Addy. I don't know how much more I can take. I feel like I'm the girl in this relationship." He got up from the couch and loomed over her.

"What do you want me to say Logan? Should I confess my undying love for you? I don't need this right now." She sighed in frustration.

"Addy. I can't believe I have to say this, I want a commitment. I want us to be something more than fuck buddies." He ran his hand through his hair in aggravation.

"What are you talking about? We were never fuck buddies. In the past year and a half we've never had sex."

"You brought it up. And if all you wanted from me was my body you could have just told me and be done with it already. I don't appreciate being played, not even by you Addy." He looked at her with resentment.

"I can't give you what you want, at least not right now." She replied sadly.

"Why not? It's not like we've never done this before." A trace of desperation can be heard in his voice.

"I think I'll go to bed."

"We're not done here Addy. If you walk away right now I don't know if I can keep doing this." Logan reached out and pulled her hand in his.

"I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want to do."

"I think I'm going back to Jess' place." He dropped her hand as if he was burned.

She looked at him with such sadness and just nodded.

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Rory wrapped her robe tightly against her body. She held onto her towel and pondered the wisdom of her decision to go night swimming. But she proceeded towards the swimming pool anyway. Her inability to sleep was what brought her to the pool. She shrugged to herself and figured that she might as well follow through.

When she got to the poolside she saw a lone figure. Rory hesitated but she eventually walked forward. It was Logan Echolls. He rolled his pants up to his knees and had his feet dangling in the water.

"Hey." She gave him a smile.

Logan looked up at her and nodded.

"I thought you were staying over at Addy's." she remarked simply as she sat down next to him.

Logan scoffed at the name. "I won't be invited over for a slumber party anytime soon."

"You guys had a fight?"

"Fight? No couples fight, Addy and I are not a couple, therefore we don't fight."

"So why are you all broody?" she gave him a skeptical look.

"Well I just found out that the girl of my dreams likes me only for my make-out skills, beyond that she wants nothing else. I never thought I'd be devastated by such a discovery, after all I take pride in my abilities." Logan looked at the water.

"Somehow I doubt that. She's completely into you." She disagreed quietly.

"Oh but she's not, not completely. Not enough to want an actual commitment from me. Let me tell you I never imagined myself so desperate to be in a relationship." He looked at her conversationally.

"You guys broke up before right? And you still managed to find your way back to each other. Maybe give it more time." She suggested optimistically.

Logan remained quiet, completely unable to muster a response.

"Why did you guys break up in the first place?" Rory can't help her curiosity.

"Rory Gilmore, intrepid reporter." He looked up at the skies and laughed hollowly.

"I'm an idiot. All this time I thought we got past everything." It seemed like he made an astounding discovery.

"What do you mean?" she put the question out there, not really expecting an answer.

"Did I ever tell you how much of an ass I am?" he asked her lightly.

"No. But we've only known each other for two weeks so I won't hold it against you." She smiled.

"Well, I am. My friends say its part of my charm."

"I thought you were going to tell me why you and Addy broke up." Rory frowned at him.

"I'm getting there, man are you impatient." He smirked at her eagerness to know why he and Addy broke up.

"Addy moved here when we were sixteen and everything already fell apart. You probably know everything about the Lilly Kane murder, being a reporter and all." Rory nodded and Logan took it as gesture to continue.

"I was, to quote Veronica, an obligatory psychotic jackass. My girlfriend was murdered, by my father but that's an entirely different story, my best friend, Duncan Kane lost all his personality and Veronica picked a different side. When Addy moved here she is by definition an 09er. 09ers are rich kids; they live in the 09 zip." He looked at Rory to see if she's processing all the information he's giving, she nodded again.

"Anyway, my mom was very close to Addy's parents. They knew each other back when they were younger. They even bought a house here in Neptune, even though they don't visit that often. At sixteen, Addy moved out here, without her parents. But she refused to become a part of the 09er crowd. I've known her since we were five, but we never really got along because she loved New York and I loved California."

"That's it. You guys didn't get along because she loved the East coast and you loved the West?" Rory shook her head in amazement.

"I'm getting to the good part of the story. Way to interrupt Gilmore." Logan rolled his eyes at her.

"Sorry, go on." Rory rolled her eyes at him.

"Addy remained an outsider throughout high school. One time my mother made me go to her house and see if she was doing okay by herself. After that first visit I started to make a habit of it. You could even say that we became friends. She saw me through my mother's death, my dad's psychosis, my up and down relationship with Veronica and all my torrid affairs. Not once did she make a comment. I felt like she accepted me for who I was." He gazed at the sky, looking completely lost.

"Well she did make a comment once." Logan smiled ruefully.

"She did?" she shot him a curious look.

"Yeah, I remember it was after a Sadie Hawkins dance at our school, senior year. I guess I was about to blow up on one of our classmates and Veronica pulled me away from everything and we danced. Back then I still had strong feelings for Veronica. After the dance I came over at Addy's house and ranted. There was so much going on and I ranted. You know what she told me?" he looked at Rory and can't help the smile on his face.

"What did she tell you?" she seemed amused at the sudden change of his morose attitude.

"She told me that if I really wanted Veronica back then all I had to do was follow through my Landon phase."

"Your Landon phase."

"Landon Carter from _A Walk to Remember_, the guy in the movie was a jerk first and then he fell in love with a sick girl and was transformed. She told me that I already changed when Veronica and I got together. All I had to do was stop acting like an ass and be that guy again. I told her that wasn't me. She told me it was, that despite all the crap that happened to me I can still act like a decent human being. Of course I didn't follow her advice but it was good to know that someone thought of me that way."

The two were quiet for awhile. Logan was being flooded with memories while Rory was waiting for him to continue.

"Veronica and I broke up after freshman year in college. By then we knew it was coming. Addy moved back to the East Coast the year before and went to Harvard."

"She's a Harvard graduate?" the surprise was evident in Rory's question.

"Yup, she went all Ivy league on me."

"So what did she major in?"

"Business. Hey aren't we supposed to be talking about my relationship with her?" Logan looked at her wearily.

"Sorry, go on." Rory smiled at him.

"Summer after freshman year she moved back here. I guess by then I was no longer looking at the world through Veronica-tinted glasses. I remember asking Addy if she was only here for the summer and she told me that she decided to take the year off and that she'll be staying here at Neptune."

"Why would a Harvard student want to take a year off?" Rory's brow furrowed as she pondered the question.

"Her grandfather just died. And she told me was that she missed me. I missed her too. And one summer day I suggested that we try the friends with benefits concept. I actually expected her to reject the idea but she didn't. Soon enough we became something more. I found myself falling for her."

"It sounds like you guys fit together."

"We did. But as I told you I am an ass." Logan broke off.

"We were both adults and we had a very adult relationship." He began.

"So you two were having sex." Rory looked at him expectantly.

"We were. And Addy and I were doing great. Until she told me that she might be pregnant." Logan sighed after he blurted the words out.

"What did you do?" she asked him warily.

"I was only twenty. Back then I had a lot of issues, especially about fathers; I wasn't ready to be one." Logan looked like he was trying to convince her as well as himself.

"What happened?"

"I avoided her for a week. Tried to come up with something to say, then she called me and told me that it was a false alarm."

"You weren't there for her?" Rory looked horrified at the way he acted.

"I know that look. Every one of my friends had that look when they found out what I did to her." Logan bowed his head in shame.

"She was only twenty as well. I don't know what I would have done in her place." Rory commented softly.

"I know all that. But I couldn't deal. When she called me and told me that she wasn't pregnant I was relieved. I finally saw her again and she acted as if the whole thing never happened."

"Did you think that maybe she…?"

"No! God no, she would never ever do that. She wouldn't have an abortion even if someone put a gun to her head. For awhile I thought we could go back to how we were before that pregnancy scare. But two months later she broke up with me and moved back to New York. I didn't hear from her for a few months."

"Then what happened?

"Jess and Veronica broke up and then got back together. Jess moved here permanently so Addy had to come here to visit him. I dated other women but I just…" he trailed off.

"So now because of everything that happened you feel guilty. And you figured if you're with her then you don't have to feel like that anymore. You are equating her commitment to you as forgiveness, for what you did three years ago."

"You're smart."

"Hey, I did go to Yale." She smiled at him sympathetically.

"But I'm not with her now just because of guilt. We talked about it once before we started this non-relationship thing. She told me she understood why I reacted that way; she told me she forgave me."

"Yet here she is unable to have a functional relationship with you."

"I thought if I gave her enough time to get used to me again we'll go back to what we were three years ago. I thought maybe we could even end up like Jess and Veronica." He sighed heavily.

"Are you giving up?"

"I honestly don't know. I've been doing this with her for the last year. No matter how much she tells me that we are casual I haven't dated other women. But to have her tell me that she can't give me her heart. It's just too much." He kicked the water in frustration.

Rory put her hand on his knee tentatively, to convey her sympathy. Logan patted her hand awkwardly and then let it lie on top of hers. Rory looked blankly at the water and then she looked at him.

Their eyes met and neither knew who made the first move but suddenly their lips connected. Desperation and frustration were the dominant emotions as they kissed each other hungrily. Logan pulled her closer to him; Rory wrapped her arms around his neck. Both were eager for more contact.

Someone coughed noisily, bringing them out of the moment. Logan looked at Rory and then at the intruder.

"You forgot to bring your stuff with you. I know how anal you are when it comes to your nightly rituals so I brought you bag here." Adriana smiled at the two of them.

"Addy-" Logan stood up and looked between her and Rory. Rory got up as well, flushing bright red.

"I'll just bring it inside. As you were." She grinned at the two of them and then disappeared inside the house.

Logan looked at Rory and then at the direction where Addy went.

"Go." Rory murmured softly.

Logan nodded gratefully and went after Addy.

AN2: Okay so that's the RoganE hookup that I've been setting up. Hopefully it was believable enough. Logan at this point of the story was feeling particularly vulnerable. Meanwhile Rory reached the decision that maybe she and Huntzberger should call it quits already (it was during her confrontation with Jess a few chapters back). And I reached for both of their issues and came up with this. Things will get more complicated it the upcoming chapters. Anyway, I figured I should include Logan and Addy's history, that way the state of their relationship would be better explained. I wanted a concrete reason why those two are unable to have a functional relationship and the whole pregnancy scare seemed the best path to take. It pained me to make Logan the bad guy in their relationship but it became necessary and I think that he was justified in acting the way he did. After all the things his father did to him and to those he loved he was battling inner demons, hoping that he wasn't anything like Aaron. So hopefully the kiss that Rory and Logan shared was believable enough, take two desperate people, put them together, allow them to bond and you may end up with this (I seem to recall Rory kissing Tristan back in season one after her breakup ith Dean). On a lighter note I couldn't help but give a shoutout to **Plan B**, the episode when Veronica and Logan danced, with the song Sway by The Perishers playing in the background. It was awesome to see them gazing into each others' eyes after avoiding eye contact for a number of times. Anyway, i think this is the longest AN I've ever written, now to my reviewers:

Problem Child1: Thanks for taking the time to review even if you are busy. Now I guess this chapter explains why Addy is having a difficult time with the idea of her and Logan again. I know other couples have gone through worse but what she experienced when she was younger made her different. Anyway, I hope this shed some light about her character and thank you for the review again. As for Jess I love him too, his comment about Veronica's eating habits was too funny to pass up.

LoVe23: I totally watched the gag reels the moment I got home, my favorite was when RT sneaked up on Jason Dohring! How about the deleted scenes? There was an extended one of logan asking Veronica for help in the girl's room, that was even better than the one that they aired. One thing broke my heart though, in **Look who's Stalking**, Logan called nightcap and it was Kendall, I had hoped that he did not sleep with her because the next day Veronica seemed so vulnerable and willing to give him another chance. And I finally understood why Kristen Bell liked Duncan better than Logan, the former did a number of grand romantics gestures that we were not able to see during the season, I'm still a die hard LoVe fan though. Now about this story, you are right about the two Logans' egos. That will be quite a scene. And Logan Echolls is completely unaware of what happened to Addy when she as younger. I'm still not sure if he will ever find out. I've already written a couple of chapters following this one and it'll become more and more intense. It's actually emotionally exhausting writing about it. Oh well thanks for the review as always.

shotswithMrsKim: Thanks for the review as always. And just a heads up Mitchum will be even worse in the upcoming chapters. I tried not to make the RoganE hookup cheating, i have an aversion for such things, but Addy and Logan are not an actual couple, as mentioned in this chapter, but it was still difficult for me to write. As for Rory and LH well the latter is a little preoccupied by what he discovered in the previous chapter and Rory is trying to come up with a good way of breaking up with him. Thanks again for reviewing.

tylerhiltongrupie53: Whenever I try to write i think of the best way to approach a chapter and most of the minor characters are telling me to use them. I like focusing on other characters so the intensity of the chapter won't be as overwhelming, but the next chapter will be just that because the focus is back on the new pairings. Thanks for the review and the bachelor party will be raised in a few chapters. I already have it all planned out. Thanks for reviewing as always.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Okay here's another chapter of a lifetime...

Rory Gilmore was still standing by the pool when Jess Mariano walked out of the house whistling happily. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her standing still, looking at the sliding door that led to the dining room.

"Hey." His brow wrinkled in confusion, "Going for a swim?"

"I kissed Logan." She blurted out of nowhere.

"Well good for you then, he is after all your boyfriend." Jess looked perplexed at her words.

"I didn't kiss Logan Huntzberger. I kissed Logan Echolls." She brought her hands to her face in shame.

"Oops." Was all he could say.

"And Addy saw us."

"Double oops."

"That's it. That's all you can say after I tell you that I just kissed your best friend's boyfriend." Rory dropped her hands from her face and looked at Jess in frustration.

"What else can I say? And Logan isn't Addy's boyfriend." Jess replied.

"That's it; you give me a disclaimer that Logan isn't Addy's boyfriend. Jess, you are a lousy friend." Rory retorted angrily.

"Am I supposed to get mad at you now? Look Rory, I've been told time and again by Addy that she and Logan are just casual. Whether or not Logan takes it to heart and kiss other women is not my problem." Jess countered impatiently.

"I can't believe I kissed him." Rory remarked glumly.

Jess walked towards her and patted her back comfortingly. "Now, now Rory. It's not as bad as you think. I'm sure it'll sort itself out."

"I cheated on Logan." She looked horrified.

"Why don't you go up to your room and rest?"

"I think I'll do that." Rory sighed and nodded. She smiled at Jess weakly and started for the sliding door.

Jess looked on as she disappeared from his view, "And the hits keep on coming."

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"Addy!" Logan shouted into the room as he entered.

Addy looked up from her book and shot him a curious smile.

"Addy, it didn't mean anything." He stated loudly as he sat down next to her.

"Calm down. You look like you ran a marathon." She commented offhandedly as she put down her book and focused on him.

"How the hell did you get here without breaking a sweat?" Logan asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh, Jess showed me a short cut. And I used one of the golf carts." She smiled in reply.

Logan finally composed himself, but he felt himself becoming angry at the way she was talking to him.

"Addy, about what you saw earlier…" he started carefully, controlling his temper.

"No big deal." She shrugged in return.

"I forgot you want nothing to do with me anymore." Logan stood up and paced the room.

"That's not what I said and you know it." She contradicted softly.

"Aren't you even angry that I kissed another woman?" he raked his hand through his hair.

"I don't have the right to be angry."

"Yes you do. If you love me you would have been furious! But I guess you were only using me for your amusement."

"Look, I don't think anything I say will make a difference."

"The funny thing is that you won't even try." Logan said bitterly.

"What do you want me to say Logan? Why don't you hand me a script and tell me what I'm supposed to do?" she frowned at his general direction.

"Addy! Tell me what _I_ should do. Tell me what I can do to make this work."

"What is there to work out?"

Logan stopped his pacing and stopped in front of her.

"Didn't we have this conversation two hours ago? You decided that you can't be in a casual relationship anymore. I told you that I can't give you what you want. Didn't you just end it then?" she looked at him curiously.

"Adriana-" he looked about ready to throttle her.

Addy just looked at him and was completely detached.

"Look Logan, you can kiss anyone you want. There really is no point to this entire conversation."

Logan stood before her, his face betraying no emotion. He held out his hand to her, she sighed but took it anyway. He made her stand up; when she did he allowed his hands to settle on her waist. Without warning he kissed her, she did not fight him but chose not to respond to his kiss. His lips became more insistent and in the end she gave in to the kiss.

"You're not going to tell me that what we have is worth throwing away. I felt everything you feel in that kiss and I won't let you deny the fact that you love me." He whispered into her hair as they parted.

"You misinterpret my actions Logan. That was goodbye." She pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around herself protectively, for the first time divulging a sign of emotion.

"How can it be goodbye? Addy talk to me." Logan begged hoarsely.

"Because you are broken and so am I. Two broken people do not make a whole. Maybe you are better off with Rory, maybe she can make you whole again. All I know is that I can't be that person for you Logan." Her eyes bright with unshed tears.

"No! You can't give up on us. You have no right to give up on us! Don't tell me who would be better suited for me. I want you! I want you!" he shouted at her.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be." She pleaded with him.

"You have no right!" Logan's voice trembled with emotion.

"Logan-"

"No. I won't let you." Logan walked out and slammed the door behind him.

THURSDAY

It was five thirty in the morning. Jess walked into the study, certain that Addy was already there waiting for him. What he saw set off an alarm in his head. Addy was sitting on the chair behind the oak table, staring blankly into space. He walked over to her and sat on the corner of the table.

"Hey Addy Bell." He touched her hand cautiously.

Addy woke from her reverie and smiled wanly at him, "Hey Jessie boy."

Jess held her hand in his and squeezed gently, trying to infuse some of his strength into her, "What's wrong?"

"Everything." She looked ready to burst into tears.

He kneeled down so they could see each other eye to eye. Jess felt his heart drop as he truly saw his best friend; her eyes were swimming in tears she always held back, she dropped to her knees as well and leaned on him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her fiercely.

"Hey it's going to be okay. I promise you it'll be okay." He whispered softly to her ear.

"No it won't." she murmured just as she burst into tears.

Jess stood up, bringing her with him. He led them to the sofa. He allowed her to cry and he kept his arm around her soothingly.

"I'm sorry." Jess whispered to her guiltily.

Addy wiped her tears with her hand and looked at him, "For what?"

"For letting this happen. If I hadn't insisted on having you around two weeks before the wedding none of this would have happened."

"None of this is your fault." She replied firmly.

"Addy you have to learn to forgive him." Jess nudged her gently as her tears stopped.

"Forgive who?"

"Hunter for the part he played in what almost happened to you. Logan for not being there when you needed him most." He remarked quietly.

"I already did."

"Addy, you are amazing. You are socially aware, you are compassionate and wise. Despite all the things that happened to you, you have the ability to move past that and help those in need, except when it comes to the two Logans."

Addy bit her lip and waited for him to continue.

"And even if you haven't forgiven them you still love them, Logan Huntzberger because you've learned to at such an early age, Logan Echolls because he saw you even when you were trying to be invisible."

"I never made a comment on your arrangement with Logan, but the truth is I always felt that it was wrong of you to subject him to such treatment. I admit that part of me felt that he deserved it, for what he did to you, for getting back together with Veronica when we broke up. But it's been a year; the boy has been wearing his heart on his sleeve."

"He just wants a different ending, one where he isn't the bad guy."

"And somehow you're doing that for him. You're letting him blame you this time. Not only is it not fair to him, it's not fair to you. You deserve the world Adriana. Act like an adult and tell him why you can't be with him anymore."

"I told him last night. He told me he's not going to let me give up on us."

"Then tell him again, this time tell him the whole truth."

"And you know why I can't be with him?"

"I've always known. I'm not your best friend for nothing."

"He kissed Rory."

"I know. She told me."

"Maybe they'd be a better fit."

"Don't go matchmaking just because it'll make things easier for you."

"I'm not. I just think that he's better off with her than with me."

"Maybe. We don't know, but if they make a better fit it's not for us to decide."

"Jess…"

"Yes."

"I'm glad you're my best friend."

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Veronica edged closer to Jess, trying to comfort him as he relayed the events of last night.

He walked into the master's bedroom at seven in the morning. She woke up groggily, but when she saw the expression on his face she became alert. That was when he started to talk about everything. He just came from Addy's house after making sure she was in bed and asleep.

"You should have seen her. I've never seen her so distraught." Jess leaned back on the pillow.

"I'm having a tough time picturing her distraught." Veronica mumbled quietly.

"It's because she's always been composed."

"What do you think will happen now?" she asked him as he gripped her hand tightly.

"We'll have to tell Uncle Jay and Aunt Ri that Addy is off somewhere, they can't see her in her current state. Then I'll have to make sure that Logan is okay."

"What about Rory and Hunter?"

"What about them?"

"Somehow they've become involved in this melodrama."

Jess frowned at her, "Here I thought all I had to worry about was saying I do."

"I think I'm more relieved that the drama doesn't involve us." She commented lightly.

"We have fulfilled our drama quota for the year. I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"Addy, Logan, take your pick."

"They're both adults Jess."

"Just because they are doesn't mean they will behave like adults."

"True. But Addy is Addy. And Logan has grown up. He may be a little hurt but I'm sure he won't do anything stupid."

"Veronica, you've met Logan right?"

"I have, and I 'd like to think that I know him well enough to say that he's probably in his room cooling off. Then later he'll be ready for another round with Addy."

"He won't get her back."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know Addy. And I know what she really wants."

"She doesn't want Logan?" she posed the question warily. Jess just looked at her and shrugged.

"Jess, everything will work out." Veronica grasped his hand in hers and allowed their fingers to intertwine.

"Come on." Veronica got up from the bed, pulling at his hand to get him to stand up as well.

"Why?" Jess asked wearily as he got up.

"Because I want to make you breakfast. Brighten up your day." She tilted her head at him.

"Stop using that head tilt of yours. You already own me." Jess chuckled, feeling a little better already.

AN2: That's it for Chapter 17. As I was writing this it became clear to me that LoganE wouldn't just accept defeat with his relationship with Addy, after all he has a pattern of not giving up on a relationship despite all evidence that it is over. So from that standpoint I wrote this. And I am kinda following the trend of not making the RoganE hookup too easy. But the reaction to the kiss will be revealed in a few chapters from now, Logan's and Rory's and everyone else's. I can't help but add the Veronica and Jess moment, they everything else a lot more tolerable, especially since this chapter was a tad emotional, particularly the way Logan left in this chapter. So that's it for now, hope you enjoyed reading.

To my reviewers:

tylerhiltongrupie53: Thanks for your enthusiastic response to the kiss between Logan and Rory. I was a little worried that it was not believable, but your reaction has taken away my worries. Thanks again for the review.

Problem Child1: My very first squee...I'm so happy! Thanks for the review as always. I'm also on Logan's side in terms of his relationship with Addy. I find that his reaction was justified, after all he has a lot of issues and I don't think that such issues would be easy to get over in a few years. Anyway, thanks for the compliment. I try to channel the character when I'm writing. I started writing this fic out of my frustration in the earlier part of the Veronica Mars season2, the Jess part happened when Rory rejected him when she went to Philly. Nothing to do with being unafraid of writing VM and Gilmore Girls. I just felt like writing, usually I manage to quench any desire to write for other fandoms. This one was dying to be written so I gave up and just did it. Thank you, thank you for your review.

LoVe53: Thanks for your review. And your instinct on certain things about this story is always dead on. We'll learn about 'Hunter' next chapter. It's going to explore the relationship between LH and Addy more. And the LE vs LH is going to be intense, you'll see. And about the conversations between Rory and Logan, well I can imagine them too, and it's gratifying to know that whatever is in my head is actually translated here. And I am not discounting Logan at all, after all I am a LoVe fan, and it was disappointing not to see any part of their relationship last season, they did give us a view of their makeout sessions. But I am looking forward to this coming season, I hope this time they will actually let us see them interact without constantly having their mouths glued to each other. It's actually ironic that I only started liking Duncan when he left with his baby. By then I no longer viewed him as a threat to LoVe so I found myself liking him and Teddy Dunn. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, I totally appreciate it.

shotswithMrsKim: I'm glad that the RoganE hookup was to your liking. The slow progress of their relationship will be just that, slow. And there are concrete plans of breaking up on Rory's part of that much I am sure. I agree with you on the entire ooc thing. I tried to make it as believable as I could but even then I was unsure if I succeeded. Thanks for the review as always, hoped you liked this chapter as well.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rory sighed as she walked over to the garden. She spent the night tossing and turning, unable to forget the kiss that she and Logan Echolls shared. She played what happened over and over in her head.

She could not for the life of her understand where the kiss came from. All she did was put a comforting hand on his knee, but something else happened.

Rory could not deny the attraction she felt towards Logan when she first saw him, then again most women find him attractive as well, she's just fortunate enough to befriend him. The first time she saw him she was kind of star struck she doesn't usually react like that, after all she's been interviewing senators and congressmen for her job, but there was a certain something about him that made her all gooey inside. His photographs in the tabloids did not do him justice.

Of course with everything that happened between her and Jess she had no time to dwell on her attraction towards him. And she happen to have a boyfriend and he had Addy. Everything he said the night before points to his love for the younger girl.

The moment their eyes locked, however, all of that went out of the window. Rory felt more alive when they kissed, she never wanted it to end. But when they got caught by his 'dream girl' he chose to follow Addy and she can't help but think of the consequences of their actions.

She kept walking until she reached the fountain. Sitting on one of the benches was Logan Huntzberger. Guilt and humiliation washed over her as she remembered who would be hurt by one kiss.

When Logan walked out of Addy's study the other day he went straight to the room he was using at Jess' house. He avoided any encounter with everyone and busied himself with phone calls.

This morning when he went down for breakfast he heard Jess tell Veronica that the Townsends were coming. He did a one eighty and went back to the room. Later he sneaked out through the balcony and took Jess' car for a drive.

He got back at twelve and was relieved to find that the Gilmores and the Townsends were off to lunch. And that's how he came to be in the garden just as his girlfriend of seven years found him.

"Hey." She greeted quietly.

"Hey."

"You missed breakfast and meeting the Townsends."

"I went out for a drive." He replied.

"They're nice, very warm and friendly. Grandpa and grandma are out to lunch with them." She commented.

"Yeah, I know."

"You should have been there; they were like doting parents to Jess."

"Was Addy there with them?"

"No. Jess said she was meeting a writer, she'll be back before the wedding rehearsal at four."

"Look Rory-" he was cut off by Rory who was also about to say something.

"Go ahead." Rory nodded in his direction.

"The reason I went out for a drive was because I knew they were coming." He began quietly.

"You did not want to meet them?" her brows furrowed in puzzlement.

"I'm pretty sure that they won't want to see me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I know them, they hate my family." He stated plainly.

"Why would they hate your family?"

"Because of what my father did to them."

"Mitchum strikes again. What did he do now?" Rory did not look surprise.

"Rory, there are some aspects of my life that I never told you, partly because they are in the past and perhaps because it's too painful to talk about. But I guess now is the time to do just that."

"Okay, you're making me nervous." She smiled uneasily.

"When I was younger my parents and their friends discussed the pros and cons of arranged marriages. They came to the conclusion that it would be better, since the certainty of a good connection is ensured through such an arrangement."

"Okay."

"I was ten when my father told me that they found a perfect match for me. I thought it was a joke. I never actually took them seriously. Then I met Addy, her grandfather and my father agreed that once she turns twenty-one we're going to get married. She's the one who started calling me Hunter, when she was younger she told me that my last name was too long and that it did not make any sense at all, my first name she said was too plain for me. That's when she started to call me Hunter, she said I epitomized the word."

"You two knew each other all this time?" shock was written on her face.

"We both grew up thinking we're going to marry each other. But she was five years younger than me, as I grow older I started to resent the setup. Once a year since I was ten we'd meet socially, my parents and her grandfather did that so there would be a sense of familiarity. When I was eighteen and she was thirteen I found out that she wasn't taking anything that her grandfather was saying about our supposed marriage seriously. I found it refreshing. I guess I started looking at her differently then."

"If that's the case then you should have been married to her by now." Rory declared in disbelief, Logan looked at her and nodded.

"I would have been if it hadn't been for what happened a year later. When she was fourteen I saw her again. I just got back from Yale and I met with her as usual. She told me she had a boyfriend I told her I had a lot of girlfriends; she just shrugged and said 'good for you'. By then I was coming to terms with the idea of marrying her. I invited her to a party but she never came. I got drunk and made an awful phone call to her. The day after that my father told me that the deal was off, I was free to consort with whomever I wanted. I thought she was angry at the phone call. I wasn't about to swallow my pride and apologize to her. I always thought that everything would work out." Logan shook his head in regret.

"That's it." She looked at him unconvinced.

"No. A few days later her grandfather bought out some of our competition and started a new company, Writers' Inc. Since then the feud between the Townsends and the Huntzbergers was on. I never really understood why it happened but I accepted it just the same."

"There's something else isn't there?" Logan nodded slowly; as if what came next was difficult to tell.

"Yesterday I had a meeting with Addy. And I finally found out the entire story. She was at the party nine years ago. She was almost raped by someone I used to call friend." His voice broke as he said this.

"What?" a horrified look painted her face.

"My father told her grandfather that he would take care of everything. My dad told her attacker's father to send his son away. That's why there was a feud, because my dad let someone who hurt her get away with it." He said bitterly.

"Oh my god." she wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

"All these years I blamed her. I always thought it was the message that I left her that broke us, I kept thinking that maybe if she just called me then I would have apologized and everything would have been alright." he was no longer with Rory, he kept muttering, blaming himself for what had happened.

"Logan." She touched his arm tentatively.

"I called my father last night and he told me he'd do it all over again. He called her a slut for going to a party where there were college boys and she was only fourteen. That our family was better off without damaged goods." He continued as if she never touched him.

"I told her to come. It was my fault. Somehow over the years I've come to think of her as mine. I was so jealous that she had a boyfriend that I insisted she come over even if she was only fourteen. I was jealous and she got hurt." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Logan." Rory tried again.

"I love her and I let some bastard hurt her." His eyes connected with Rory's, regret and profound sadness clouding his eyes.

"You love her?" Rory let go of his arm, as though burned.

"I'm in love her." He did not look away, he allowed Rory to see what he was feeling.

"I tried denying it for so long. I convinced myself that the only reason I was obsessed with Writers' Inc was because they were beating us. But I wanted to see her. I thought that if she saw me she'd take the blame for everything that went wrong with us. Then maybe I could finally move on with my life."

"You love her." She repeated the words.

"I do love you Rory. When we first met I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I would have to live a life without Addy. That's why I put you through everything I did. I felt that I could never open my heart again because the moment I did I ended up getting hurt. I'm not trying to justify any of my actions but that's the truth. I always thought that we can get married and live happily ever after despite my past. But you and I both know that we are living a lie. We've been pretending for so long that we just don't want to let go."

Rory looked at him dumbly, as if she was not actually seeing him.

"We became stuck in this place that is just comfortable. The passion we had for each other has dwindled into nothingness. For all intents and purposes we have become an old married couple without the marriage. But I can't do it anymore. I won't do it anymore. We can't be together anymore because it's convenient for the both of us. I think...I think we should break up." He touched her arm but she jerked her arm away.

"I kissed Logan Echolls." She stated blandly.

"You did?"

"Yes I did. And I liked it. Addy saw us." Rory turned so she could see his reaction.

"How did she react?"

"She grinned and said as you were."

"They don't belong together." He muttered quietly.

"I suppose you think that you and Addy belong together." Rory replied harshly.

"We do belong together." He responded stubbornly.

"Then what was the point of our relationship?"

"So it could lead me back to her. And lead you to Echolls."

"You're just saying that because there would be less of a mess if I ended up with him." She countered coldly.

"No, it's because of what I saw when we were at the beach. I could tell there was something there. You two were acting so comfortably with each other, like you've been together for years, something we as a couple never achieved. " Rory did a double take and she saw that Logan meant everything he said.

"Whatever. He went after her. For all we know they're probably together now. Last night he was lamenting that she refused to make a commitment with him. Today he is missing and so is she. Obviously they made up and ran off somewhere together."

"Then we'll just have to break them up."

"Don't you have any conscience?"

"Not when it involves Addy. I deserve a chance with her. I allowed my pride to break us nine years ago, but I won't let that stop me anymore. As of this moment I have no pride. I want to be with her and I may not deserve her right now but I'll make sure to work on deserving her for the rest of my life. If it means I'll have to break her and Logan up then so be it. The question is will you fight with me or against me." Logan shot her an expectant look.

"You jump I jump Jack." Rory nodded determinedly. The kiss wasn't just a kiss; it was a promise of a new beginning, one that she was determined to have.

AN: Okay so there you go. Hunter's POV on everything, his version of what happened between him and Addy. And finally an end to his and Rory's relationship. So the two are now in cahoots, for Addy and Logan's hearts. I tried not to make them sound manipulative, both have sincere feelings for the other two. But let's just say that it'll be interesting to see what happens next. Anyway, I am posting early because I want to finish this fic before the new season for both shows start. So I'll probably be making multiple postings just so I can achieve this goal. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.

To my reviewers:

shotswithMrsKim: Thanks for the review as always.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Hiya new reader! Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked the Veronica/Jess pairing, everyone else seemed to like it as well. As for the RoganE well it is the new pairing I've been working on so I am glad that you are rooting for them.

tylerhiltongrupie53: Glad you loved the VJ in last chapter. Their presence made the chapter less dramatic, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I'm glad you warmed up to the RogaE. As for the bachelor party I just finished that chapter and it was fun writing it. Thanks for the review as always.

LoVe23: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. That was the hardest chapter I wrote, especially the part between Logan and Addy. You are right in saying that Logan is passionate about Addy, it's all a matter of knowing at what point he should stop. As for the Jess and Addy moment, I put that in so she at least come off as human, with regular emotions. Jess said that she loves both Logans and she does, her problem is knowing which one she loves more. And Jess shares everything with Veronica so I put that out there as well, they actually made the chapter more tolerable. And I'd like to think that Rory is grown up enough not to have to run away again. That's why she stayed. In the upcoming chapters, well the interaction between the four is increased so watch out for those. Now I realize I never really described Addy all I said about her is that her hair color is black. So I'm addressing it now, she is five five, a little taller than Veronica and little shorter than Rory. She has gray eyes and dimples on each cheek. Think Sophia Bush but a little more conservative. I think once season 3 starts we are going to see a whole lot of LoVe, I saw a preview of VM and there was one scene when the two were on a bench and they kissed, I had to keep myself from jumping in joy. I kinda miss Teddy Dunn when they said that he is gone for good, they said that the fans chose Logan so he's out of the picture. Thanks for the review as always, and I did see your review of my one shot on Mac/Dick, I wasn't able to respond because it was a one shot and last week when I posted chapter 17 I was little preoccupied with the chapter. Thanks again. btw, everyone seems to be liking the RoganE.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Here's another chapter of A Lifetime...there are a few mild profanities in this chapter, just thought I should put it out there. Anyway, on with the story...

Addy pulled up and put her car in park. She breathed in and then out, mentally preparing herself for what's to come. She got out of her car and walked slowly towards the door. She did not know what was waiting for her but she held her head high and cautiously turned the knob.

The door was unlocked. She entered the house and her eyes blinked trying to adjust to the darkness that blanketed the room. She closed the door behind her as quietly as possible.

It was twelve in the afternoon when she picked up the phone. She was glad that Jess covered for her; otherwise her parents would be hounding her for answers had they seen her earlier. When she woke up it was to the sound of Veronica's worried voice. Logan did not go home to Jess' house when he walked out on her the night before.

She hung up after reassuring Veronica that she'll look for him. She changed into fresh clothes and grabbed her keys. She knew exactly where he was.

Addy walked over to the kitchen and saw him slumped in one corner, staring at a bottle of vodka.

"Are you planning on drinking that or mind melding with it?" she forced the cheerfulness in her voice.

Logan looked up and then glared at her intrusion. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and his face had a beginning of stubble.

"What do you want?" he asked brusquely.

"Oh, you know world peace, end to world hunger. Anything along those lines." She replied flippantly.

"Go away." Was his only response.

"Yeah, not gonna happen." She proceeded to sit across from him. "So drinking or mind melding?

"Why don't you just leave me alone?" he turned away from her.

"I know." She picked up the bottle and headed for the sink. She opened the label and poured it down the drain.

"You're wasting my money and my alcohol." He growled at her.

"Yeah well tough. Besides, you have plenty of both." She threw the bottle into the garbage can and went back to sit across from him.

"I told you to leave me alone."

"If you want me to leave you alone then you'll have to carry me out of this house and into my car." She responded firmly.

"That sounds very tempting right about now." He looked at her angrily.

"You see I'd rather not be the reason for your drinking yourself into oblivion. Your body isn't used to it anymore, so I'm here to make sure that you won't drink." She smiled weakly.

"Don't flatter yourself." He snapped at her.

"I can't remember the last time I was here." Ignoring him she looked around and then faced him again.

Logan snorted in disdain, "The last time you were here you told me that you can't see me anymore. I figured it's the appropriate place to celebrate another ending to our beautiful relationship." He remarked sarcastically.

"Three years ago. I remember now." She nodded in the memory. "I wanted you to follow me. I wanted you to stop me but you didn't." she smiled at him ruefully.

Logan was quiet, but he started banging his head against the wall.

"Would you stop that? You don't need a concussion added your list of injuries, physical or otherwise." She grabbed his arm to stop him. He wrenched his arm away but she refused to let go.

"Would you let go of my arm?" he asked, annoyance tainting his question.

"No." she replied obstinately, keeping a strong hold on his arm.

"I don't want your pity." He sneered as he gave up trying to wrench his arm away from her.

"Well it's your lucky day because I'm not here out of pity."

"Then why are you here?" he closed his eyes in exasperation.

"Because I am as susceptible to the Echolls charm as the next girl, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Is that a crime?"

"You are so full of shit. All night last night you were going on and on that we can't be together. And now you are so concerned."

"No need for foul language you jackass. Besides I owe you the truth, after all we've been playing tonsil hockey for the last year and a half." She remarked lightly.

"You mean your not wanting to be with me is a lie. Say your piece and get out of my house."

"That's not very friendly." She frowned at him.

"Well I'm not in a very friendly mood."

Addy let her fingers travel down his arm right to his fingers. She allowed their fingers to intertwine. "You were right. I do love you Logan. But I think I'm in love with someone else." She whispered softly.

Logan glared at her, "Is that supposed to make me feel better? I love you but I'm in love in someone else." He mimicked her mockingly, "What a load of bullshit."

"Can you honestly say that you are in love me?"

"Yes." He looked at her directly in the eye as he answered.

"Then how can you kiss Rory?" the question was asked with a hint of bitterness.

"Why do you care? You practically told us to go at it again." He rolled his eyes at her.

"You probably skipped class and missed the day they gave a lecture on the rich kids' guide to acting indifferent even if you're heart just shattered into a million pieces." She looked at him with such honesty.

Logan scoffed loudly, "Didn't you just tell me you're in love with someone else? How can your heart shatter if you're not in love with me?"

"Well for one thing I did tell you I'm just as susceptible to your charms as the next girl. And for another I said I think, not I know, big difference." She moved over to his side without letting go of his hand. She settled down right next to him, leaning against him, but he did nothing to move away from her.

"Who is the lucky guy anyway? Anyone I know?" Logan tried to ask casually.

"I'd rather not say. As I said I'm not even sure. For all I know I'm just imagining things. Besides I'm here to get you to attend Jess and Veronica's wedding rehearsal."

"So that's why you're here. Not out of concern or guilt. You just want me to attend the damn rehearsal." He edged closer to the wall to move away from her but she only leaned further against him.

"No I'm here because after you left last night I felt so empty. I know that we were doing the casual thing so it could lead up to the real thing. But you know as well as I do that we won't end up together. We've already hurt each other so much and it seems we just can't help ourselves. When we decided to do this thing, us, I had hoped for a better ending, even if it was just an actual ending between us."

"But I'm in love with you." He declared quietly.

"And I love you. But love is not always enough. These past few days I was almost convinced that maybe it could be. We were getting along so well, and I did bring up the possibility of sex, I thought that maybe…" she trailed off sadly.

"Then what happened? If you were starting to think that we may have a chance, what happened that made you change your mind."

"Some stuff that I had run away from nine years ago caught up with me." She admitted gently.

"What stuff?" he gripped her hand tightly.

"Stuff that I'm still trying to process. Then you kept pushing for something that I was thinking about but still weren't ready for. Everything just blew up." A tear trailed down her cheek.

Logan released her hand and pulled her to his lap. He wiped away her tear and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"Don't" she uttered as he moved his lips to catch hers.

"Try and stop me." He crushed her mouth against his, pouring his every emotion to the kiss.

"You're making this harder." She whispered against his lips when they parted. She breathed in shakily and got up from his lap. He stood up as well and kept his eyes locked on hers.

"Oh you bet I'm going to make it harder. Whoever the other guy is he won't have a chance."

"But you kissed Rory."

"And I liked it too…" she backed away from him and he advanced towards her.

"If you like kissing her so much then why don't you just date her?" she suggested as she kept walking backwards.

"Because sweetums I still have you in my system. I need to get you out first before I even consider trying a different model."

Her back hit the kitchen sink and she had nowhere to go. Logan took one final step and he had her cornered. He placed his hands on each side of her body, making sure she had no escape.

"Logan-"

"I love hearing you say my name." he whispered against her hair.

"I can't do this."

"Do me a favor?" he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What kind of favor?" she asked nervously.

"Let me flush you out of my system. Just until Jess and Veronica leave for the honeymoon. Let's pretend that you and I are a couple, we'll do things that couples do for the next four days. And I mean everything." His fingers traced circles on her back.

"Why would I agree to that?"

"Because if, at the end of those four days, you decide that you can't forget about the other guy I'll willingly give you the better ending to our story that you've been wanting. I'll be sated and spent that I would be willing to do anything for you." He whispered to her ear.

"And if I say no?"

"But you won't. You said it yourself; you are just as vulnerable to my charms as the next girl. And you know I will exploit that knowledge to my advantage. Like now for instance, you are so consumed by what I'm making you feel that you won't be able to say no."

"You sound so full of yourself." She placed her hands on his chest as if she was going to stop him.

"Come on Addy, just give in." he kissed the corner of her lips.

"I-"

"Just give me those four days Addy Bell." Logan whispered achingly as their lips met.

"You better not kiss anyone else in those four days." She warned him but she was unable to finish her threat as Logan kissed her and simultaneously pulled her closer to him.

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It was quarter to four in the afternoon. Everyone was already at the church, except for Addy and Logan. Jess looked at his watch again and shook his head in disapproval.

"Are we ready?" Father Patrick Fitzpatrick asked him but he only shook his head.

Jess was just about ready to explode when Addy and Logan walked into the church hand in hand. Addy whispered something to Logan that made him chuckle and pull her closer to him.

Hunter and Rory were both sitting at the front pew; they exchanged meaningful looks at the two new arrivals.

Jess walked purposefully towards the two and scowled at them. "You two are late."

"What are you talking about? It's three fifty." Addy mocked scowled at him.

Before Jess could reply the Townsends walked over to them.

"Hi mom, daddy." Addy released Logan's hand and hugged her parents.

"So how was the meeting with the writer?" Jason Townsend smiled at his daughter.

"Oh that, I actually lied to Jess and spent the day with Logan. You guys remember him don't you?" she grabbed Logan's hand again and pulled her next to him. He smiled at her parents shyly.

"Did you two get back together?" Muriel Townsend looked at Logan critically.

"Back together." Addy beamed at her parents and Logan smiled and nodded.

Jason held his hand out for Logan to shake, which the younger man took gratefully. Muriel looked at him and then hugged him without warning.

"Don't worry about my wife; she tends to be a little emotional when it comes to the boys that our baby girl dates." Jason smiled at Logan reassuringly.

"Mom, can you let Logan go? Jess is already complaining about our lateness, even though we got here ten minutes before the actual time." Addy made a face at Jess who did the same thing in return.

"Now kids, behave. Jess; go on and tell Father Patrick that we're ready to proceed. I'll make sure that Adriana behaves." Jason clapped Jess on the back. Jess shot Addy a triumphant look and then walked over to the priest.

"You know you are giving me a complex. I'm your real child here, not Jess. But you are always siding with him." She mock pouted.

"Now, now Addy. This is Jess' time." Muriel patted her daughter's cheek.

"Yes mother. I promise I'll behave." She grinned at her parents and told them she had to go to where Jess was.

"It's lucky that you're a best maid and I'm the groomsman. We get to stand next to each other." Logan commented as he swung their hands playfully.

"You call it luck, I call it coincidence. Or maybe _it is_ luck that Jess asked you to be a groomsman." She looked at him thoughtfully.

"Would you two quit it?" Jess snapped at the two of them.

"Hey, you didn't even bother with the silent treatment. You're supposed to begin with that then follow up with the hostile tone." Addy commented teasingly.

"You mean he does this all the time?" Logan asked her in mock surprise.

"That's Jess trademark treatment of me whenever I do something that doesn't please him. Right Jess?" she gave Jess a plucky smile.

Jess just rolled his eyes at them and then proceeded towards the front of the church just as the music started. With him was Luke, Addy followed after them and so did Logan. The twins had to walk with Lorelai as they traipsed down the aisle.

The bridal march began and then Mac walked in first, followed by Wallace. The rest of the guests rose just as Veronica and Keith walked down the aisle. Jess' attention was focused solely on Veronica.

Once they reached Jess he smiled at her and she grinned back. Keith was supposed to give her arm over to Jess but he pretended not to let go. When he finally handed Veronica's arm to Jess he smiled warmly at the younger man, his vision became a little cloudy.

They pretended to go over the vows then the priest declared them man and wife, urging Jess to kiss the bride. Jess did just that and when they were supposed to walk down the aisle as man and wife Jess released her hand and grabbed Addy; they walked right outside of the church.

Veronica shrugged and looked at Father Patrick, "I think we can go over it again in a few minutes." She stated and then she walked over to Logan.

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"You're supposed to walk away with Veronica, not with the best man." Addy commented as Jess steered them out of view.

"What is going on?" Jess glowered at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked stubbornly.

"Stop acting dumb. You and Logan back together. I thought we went over this already."

"Look, don't make a big deal out of this."

"Adriana Arabella Townsend, give me a straight answer." He ordered darkly.

"Okay, short story Logan and I are officially dating, until you and Veronica leave for the honeymoon."

"How did this happen? I told you to tell him the truth and give him a clean break from this. What about Hu-"

"Don't say it. I know what I'm doing Jess. Logan and I agreed to this arrangement."

"You had sex." He accused her, disbelief in his eyes.

"What!" Addy actually looked horrified.

"You two had sex. That's why you're very comfortable with him, all touchy feely. You slept with him. I can't believe you slept with him." Jess glared at her.

"Look Jess, we know what we are doing, we're both adults." She insisted.

"Addy, what the hell?" Jess covered his face with his hands in frustration.

"I know it can be confusing but Logan and I agreed. And this time I actually think it'll work out. At the end of the four days we'll part ways and he promised we can be friends."

"Did he promise you that in or out of bed?" Jess looked at her skeptically.

"Out of bed. I thought you'd appreciate a drama free wedding, now that Logan and I decided what to do you can have that." She glared at him.

"What about Hunter and Rory?" Jess finally calmed down.

"What about them?" she asked coolly.

"Are you forgetting that Logan and Rory made out?" Jess pointed out derisively.

"No. But as far as I'm concerned they have nothing to do with our agreement. If at the end of four days Logan decides that he wants to date Rory I won't hold it against him. After all you dated her, I'm sure she can take him." Addy remarked confidently.

"What's the point then, if you're not doing this to get back together?"

"I-"

"You can't even answer that." He gave her a meaningful look.

"Logan explained it better." She replied helplessly.

"Maybe I should talk to Logan." Jess started purposefully for the door.

Addy grabbed his arm, "No don't. I want this, I need this."

"Are you sure?" Jess looked at her for confirmation; she nodded "You do know getting involved like this would not make thing easier? It'll probably be that much harder to break things off with him."

"I told you he explained it better. Besides, I've dealt with worse things." She muttered with little conviction.

AN2: Hold on to your tomatoes please. There is a point to the direction of the story. Like making its resolution harder...but it will be resolved. I did not actually want to make the relationship between Addy and Logan even more complicated. I wanted there to be a concrete ending, but then the Logan in my head told me that there is no possible way that he hasn't gotten laid in over a year, that I should at least give him a few days with the Addy character so there would be closure for him. So stupid me, I listened yet again to the inner Logan. But bright side I actually found a way to resolve this turn of events. Okay, proceed to throw your tomatoes. Thank you.

To my reviewers:

Problem Child1: Thanks for the review, I'm just glad you are reading this fic. I threw in the Veronica and Jess because they are just so darn cute together. It'll be a few more chapters before the wedding but I can't wait either. Congratulations on converting another person into one of us. I think that's the best way to insure that VM will get a full season instead of only 13 episodes. I miss Aaron as well, I actually voted for Harry Hamlin in Dancing with the Stars just because he was Aaron Echolls, even if his dancing was too painful to watch, paid off though, he was one of the dancers who were sure to stay for another week. LoAd, perfect I think, because they are loaded with issues. Thanks for the review.

tylerhiltongrupie53: And she'll get it too, but it will take a little while. Thanks for the review. Is this ASAP enough? I'll be updating again soon. Thanks as always for the review.

LoVe23: LE's reaction to the kiss will be up next week. But in the meantime thanks for the review as always. I thought it would make LH likable if he just came out with the truth instead of hiding it and maintaining his relationship with Rory when he actually just wants to pursue Addy. So yeah, both will go after their hearts' desire but the way they do will it won't be so sneaky, which is how everyone seems to think they'll do it I'm glad you are happy with the story, I only hope you still are even after the direction it took. Rest assured that I won't go back on my word about the RoganE pairing, I just seem to keep setting myself up for more challenges. Thanks for the review.

MHxxPAPERDOLL: Sneaky? Maybe not so much, it's more straightforward than I actually expected it to be. But yeah, I loved the I jump you jump jack as well. I just had to make LH more likable and that was part of the reason why I just had to let him be honest. Thanks for reviewing.

shotswithMrsKim: Thanks for the review. I like their breakup too. It felt right. Thanks for reviewing.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: On with the story...

"So…" Veronica began as she walked over to Logan, who sat on the marble steps.

"So what?" Logan looked up at her expectantly.

"What's the deal with you and Addy and all that hand holding?" she remarked smilingly.

"I don't know what you mean." He smirked at her.

"You are looking supremely confident and Jess just dragged Addy out of here, to talk obviously. So what's going on?" she raised her brow at him.

"If I told you to mind your own business." Logan was unperturbed by her question.

"I'd say, I would if I could but I can't so I won't." she grinned at him impertinently.

"I'm pretty sure that Jess is getting the long and the short of it, so I give you my blessing to ask him yourself." He spread his hands gregariously.

Veronica's eyes narrowed at his answer, "What about Rory?" she discreetly looked at the blue eyed girl talking quietly to her boyfriend.

"What about her?"

"You guys kissed." She hissed at him.

"Rory has a boyfriend and I have Addy. For now we resolve to be drama free until after your wedding, out of respect for you and Jess of course."

Veronica looked at him suspiciously but before she could react; Jess and Addy strolled back into the church. Jess told everyone that they were going to go over everything one more time and then they'd head back to the house and get ready for dinner. There was a murmur of agreement and everything else went smoothly from there.

When Father Patrick pronounced them as husband and wife the couple kissed. This time Jess walked down the aisle with Veronica. Wallace and Addy were arm in arm as they proceeded after Jess and Veronica. Mac and Logan cringed as they held hands and followed the rest of the party.

* * *

The restaurant was closed to other customers. Only the Mariano party was allowed inside. The noise level was high, the conversation flowed smoothly. Most of it focused on the bride and groom.

"And I remember her taking her mother's veil and hiding it in her room." Keith smiled warmly at his daughter.

"Who could forget that veil? I remember I've known her for a month; she came into the Kane household with a large bag, the only thing inside was that veil. Lilly told us we were going to play wedding day. I got to be a groom to the two of you. DK was a bit peeved since he had to play the priest." Logan smiled fondly at the memory.

Veronica smiled at his direction, Logan raised his glass at her and she returned the gesture.

"Can we stop talking about me as if I weren't here?" Veronica rolled her eyes in exasperation when the moment between her and Logan passed.

"Very well, I think it's Jess' turn." Muriel Townsend interjected; Veronica shot her a grateful smile, while Jess groaned in anticipation.

"Jess never seemed like the marrying type." Lorelai piped in.

"I bet he wasn't. He was…" Jason Townsend trailed off in deep a thought.

"I think you called him a ladies man dad." Addy contributed.

"That's exactly it." Jason grinned at his daughter.

"Oh my, don't tell them that story Jay." Muriel frowned at her husband.

"Too late. When Jess was fifteen Ri and I caught him with a girl." Jason chuckled heartily.

"Dad!"

"Uncle Jay!" both Addy and Jess shouted simultaneously.

"Come on Jess, Veronica had her turn, now is your time." Jason shot him a look. Jess proceeded to sulk while Jason continued.

"Anyway, it was a cold Saturday night. Ri and I were just going up to our room when we heard a noise coming from his room, which is odd since he left earlier that evening. We went to check and there he was with a girl, I believe her name was Marigold."

"You went out with a girl named Marigold?" Veronica asked laughingly.

"She told me her name was Mary." Jess muttered.

"Yeah because that is so much better." Veronica retorted.

"Anyway, Jess left the house as graciously as he can. The next day at breakfast Addy informed us that we will be setting up a wedding fund for Jess, our eleven year old daughter heard me joke about Jess and Vegas weddings." Jason messed his daughter's hair affectionately earning him an annoyed look.

"That's why you insisted that you pay for the wedding?" surprise was written in Jess' face.

"Well we can't let you have a Vegas wedding, you deserve the best." Muriel smiled at Jess.

"You guys." Jess got up from his chair and hugged the two of them.

"I feel a toast coming on." Lorelai announced.

"Luke will you do the honor of gracing us with a toast?" Keith asked the other man.

"Actually, Jason and I talked and we agreed that he would do the toast tonight." Luke shrugged as he passed the responsibility on to Jason.

"And he would reserve his speech for the actual wedding." Jason nodded at Luke's direction.

"So about that toast." Emily Gilmore smiled archly.

"Ah yes, I've known Jess when he was only fourteen. And after catching him with a girl that cold night he and I had a serious talk the very next day. I told him that I would like to meet only one girl, _the one_ and as expected he scoffed at the idea. Nine years later I received a call while we were in Belgium. Jess paused a lot, hesitated a lot before he blurted out that he found her. Of course Ri and I flew out to Neptune the moment he said _the one_. We met Veronica; he was just as wonderful as he described her." Jason paused as he looked at the bride and groom warmly.

"It turned out that they were only going out for three months. But the way they acted it was as if they've been together for always." Jason reached out to Addy and she handed him a book. "So here's our gift to you and Veronica." He gave Jess the book.

"What to do and what not to do, a couple's guide to a happy marriage." Jess shot Jason a puzzled look and opened the book, "Its blank Uncle Jay."

"Yes, it is. Marriage is a journey that two people take together. And every marriage is unique, that book is for you and Veronica to fill. Through the years you will learn a lot about each other and that book will bear witness to your union. If ever you feel like you are at the end of your rope then reach for this book and you'll know that what you have is real and true. And if you do a good job at it and you will have we have." He held out his hand and Muriel took it automatically, Emily and Richard did the same and so did Luke and Lorelai.

"To Jess and Veronica, may you two discover what we old couples have. That the journey is all the more fun and always more than worth it, as long as you have the right person next to you." He raised his glass towards the younger couple and everyone did the same.

"To Jess and Veronica." Richard repeated and everyone uttered the same words. Jess kissed Veronica on the cheek and she beamed at him.

Half an hour later most of the guests were ready to go.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight, it's only nine?" Luke asked as he took a look at his watch.

"Well, Emily and Richard are going with us, we have so much to catch up on." Muriel answered for the two and her husband.

"And we have an appointment with Messieurs Richard and William." Lorelai pointed out to him in a French accent.

"What about you younger lots?" Richard asked the younger group.

"Well we were thinking about bowling." Jess answered shooting meaningful glances at the rest of his friends.

"Bowling, sounds like an interesting idea." Richard nodded approvingly.

"Well, count me out. Dad told me we have to talk before he scampers off with you Uncle Rich." Addy smiled at the elder Gilmore.

"We do not scamper my dear we walk with dignity." Richard replied smilingly as he nodded to the group and walked over to the Townsends and Emily.

"So why does your dad want to talk to you?" Logan shifted nervously.

"Nothing to do with us, so quit being so shifty." She pinched his cheeks playfully.

"I'll drive you to Jess' then I'll wait for you at your place?" he raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

"Sounds like a plan."

"So you guys are going bowling." Logan emphasizing the word bowling, as he grinned suggestively.

"Only you Echolls can make something mundane as bowling sexual." Eli rolled his eyes at him.

"What can I say? It's a talent." Logan smiled in return.

"We all drove here separately, let's all meet up at _The Hut_ and then go from there." Jess looked at Dick, Hunter, Eli and Wallace in confirmation, the four nodded in agreement.

"Is it just me or did that feel not so equal opportunity?" Veronica asked Mac, Rory, Carmen and Natasha.

"I was going to say the same thing. What's the deal with just asking the guys? If I remember correctly I drove us here." Mac commented as she pinched Dick's side.

"Ouch Ghost world. That hurt." Dick frowned at his wife and pouted as he rubbed the spot she pinched.

"Okay so we're out." Logan announced loudly as he grabbed Addy's hand and stirred them away from the outrageous banter that was about to ensue.

* * *

"So what did your parents want?" Logan asked as Addy settled next to him.

"They wanted my input on their gift for Jess and Veronica."

"So what are they giving the lovely couple?"

"A map."

"That's it?"

"Yup, oh and all they have to do is point wherever part of the world they'd like to go and mom and dad will give them their property over there."

"Are you serious?" an astounded look crossed Logan's face.

"As a heart attack." She deadpanned.

"Man, now I wish I was Jess." Logan stated wistfully.

"Yuck, don't ever say that again. To think I was about to kiss you. Thank you. Now I have Jess' image in my head, I won't be able to make out with you now." She wrinkled her nose at him.

"I think I can solve your problem." Logan pulled her closer to him to prove his point.

* * *

"Are you sure they will be okay with this?" Rory asked for the nth time.

"Jess said he'd call them." Hunter answered also for the nth time.

"They obviously wanted some privacy, that's why they bailed on the bowling trip." Rory reasoned.

"Don't chicken out now Ace." He patted her hand reassuringly.

"I can't believe the bowling trip was a scam." Rory remarked in frustration.

"I know their group is so complicated it's not even funny." He shook his head in exasperation.

Hunter pulled in at the Townsend driveway and put the car in park.

"Ready?" he asked.

"I still don't think it's a good idea." Rory muttered under her breath.

"It's going to be okay." Hunter replied as he opened the car door and went over to her side.

As he was assisting her out of the car the front door opened. A woman in her fifties smiled at them, "Mr. Jess told me you were coming. Miss Addy is in the study. You two should go on in."

"See I told you it'll be okay." Hunter took her hand in his and guided her to the study.

They opened the door and there was a solitary lamp lighting the room. On the sofa were two figures so close to each other that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.

Hunter cleared his throat noisily, bringing the couple out of the moment. Rory felt herself turning red at their interruption. Hunter looked at the wall next to him and flicked on the switch, bathing the room with brightness.

Logan breathed in and then out, "Ah…company." he looked at Addy in exasperation and then kissed her cheek tenderly. He maneuvered his body so he could turn to see who interrupted their make out session while covering Addy with his frame.

"What can we do for you this fine evening?" Logan asked with such hospitality that completely belied his ire.

"Jess said he'd call you." Rory blurted out.

"That Jess. Remind me to beat him to a pulp tomorrow." He looked behind him pointedly.

"Why exactly are you guys here?" Addy asked still out of their view.

"Well they failed to mention that the entire bowling thing was code for pairing off somewhere dark." Hunter replied.

"Seriously next time we'll just have to provide a copy of the secret code of our group." Addy remarked haltingly as if she was struggling with something.

"Need help there sweetums." Logan

"No thanks, honeybunch." Addy answered sarcasm evident in her tone.

"Jess told us we're better off coming here, just so the grandparents and parents won't be aware of all the covert operations." Rory provided helpfully.

"Makes sense. Only he never did call us." Logan grimaced.

"To be fair you did put our phones in vibrate." Addy climbed out from behind him and settled next to him, tugging on her shorts uncomfortably. She gestured towards the other sofa, for Rory and Hunter to sit.

"Ah…vibrate." Logan looked at her with mock longing.

Addy shot him a dirty look and then stood up to walk over the desk where two phones were balanced precariously. "One missed call each; you'd think he'd try harder."

"You two must be tired. Why don't I show you a room, you two can share if you want?" Logan shot up from his seat and offered with such charm.

"Actually we're not." Hunter interjected.

"I would like to see your library. Jess mentioned you have an even better collection than him." Rory smiled at Addy.

Addy looked hesitant. "It's a bit cluttered at the moment. You won't be able to find anything."

"I'll help you clean it up." Hunter offered. He stood up and waited for Addy expectantly.

"Okay." Addy frowned and then nodded. She shot Logan an uncertain smile and the two headed out the door.

Logan looked confused by what transpired while Rory looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there. He sat back down and looked at her, and then he averted his gaze.

He had to admit he did not lie to Addy about liking the kiss that he and Rory shared. As much as he loved Addy the kiss gave him something that's been missing in his life for the last three years: hope. He hated to think that he and Addy won't be together for always, but somehow the idea of ending things with her after the wedding did not scare him as much as he thought. He felt like something else or _someone_ was waiting for him at the end of it.

"So this is what they meant by that word awkward." Logan finally looked at Rory.

Rory just smiled at him, avoiding any eye contact.

"About what happened last night-"

"I know that it didn't mean anything." She smiled at him tightly.

"I was going to say that it was nice." Logan replied quietly.

"Oh, yes it was nice. But obviously…"

"Look, it's not everyday that I think a kiss is nice. So maybe-"

"But you and Addy-"

"You have got to stop interrupting me woman," Logan interjected with mock ferocity and grinned at her, "If ever you and Hunter don't work out, maybe we can do something, sometime."

"But…" she protested weakly, her heart was racing a hundred miles per minute. Her head was screaming he likes you too. Then the image of Logan and Addy earlier clouded her triumphant feeling. "You and Addy seemed to have worked out your differences."

"We have. But we both agreed that it won't necessarily work out. So if we don't work out and you and Hunter don't work out, maybe _we _can work something out." He looked at her expectantly.

"I think that would be a great idea." She smiled at him shyly.

"Huh. Didn't think that it would work." Logan smirked confidently.

"What can I say; you are too charming for your own good." Rory giggled.

"And you forgot to mention hot." Logan chided condescendingly.

"Of course, we must not forget your hotness." She nodded in agreement.

"You want something to drink?"

* * *

The two were picking up books quietly. Hunter kept looking at her and she mostly ignored him.

"So you and that Hollywood guy." He began.

"What about me and Logan?" she asked him warily.

"I never thought that you would go for the Hollywood type. You were always more of the traditional type."

"By traditional you meant boring." She stated flatly.

"Well…" he trailed off smilingly.

"I'll have you know I've never been involved with someone boring. When I was fourteen I was seeing Martin Fielding, you remember him don't you? Tall, dark, handsome and the same age as you." she looked at him archly.

"He was your G-rated boyfriend?" surprise was evident in his voice.

"You probably thought I was seeing some pimply kid." She rolled her eyes at him.

"So how is good ole Martin?"

"Engaged."

"So why are you with that Echolls guy? If I remember correctly, Fielding is the epitome of traditional, and by traditional I actually meant people from the same background as ours." Hunter went back to the previous subject.

"Can you hear yourself talk? You are such a snob." She frowned at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"People from the same background as ours." She imitated him, "You mean a family that could trace their ancestry to great mother England. You are unbelievable." She shook her head at him.

"Look all I'm saying is that you've always been into that kind of stuff."

"What stuff? You can't pretend you know me, because you don't."

"Look I'm sorry. I just wanted to know more about why you're with that guy?"

"That guy's name is Logan. And I don't need to explain my relationship with him to you." She declared hostility permeating her tone; she tossed a bottle of soda into the garbage can with more force than necessary.

"Bella…" he began tentatively.

"Don't call me that." She replied harshly.

"Adriana..." He put down the books he held in his hands and approached her carefully.

"Damien repeated that name over and over again. I'm not that girl anymore."

Addy dropped the books and turned away from him. He placed his hand on her arm and faced her; he was relieved when she did not jerk her arm away. He slowly encircled his arms around her, she was shaking with pent up emotion but she did not seem to mind the comfort that he is offering.

"I'm sorry." He murmured into her hair over and over again.

Addy pushed him gently away and tried to compose herself; Hunter refused to end the contact and left his hand around her waist.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry for blowing up on you." She smiled at him weakly. "You were being a jerk."

"I know, I know. I'm being a snob and a jerk. Color me jealous." He muttered quietly as he tugged at her shirt.

"Why would you be jealous?" she cast him a skeptical look.

Before he can answer her question the door to the library opened and revealed their significant others. Logan raised his brows at what he saw.

"Dude, you have got to stop touching my girlfriend." He remarked jokingly, a thinly veiled threat was also present in his tone.

Hunter removed his arm around her waist slowly, not at all bothered by the look that Logan was giving him. At Rory's glare he raised his hands on mock surrender.

"Rory couldn't wait any longer. She was too excited to wait." Logan grinned at Rory and she smiled right back at him.

"Well as you can see we are not done cleaning up. But you are totally welcome to browse." Addy smiled at her direction.

Logan walked towards them and put his arm around her shoulders possessively, "Come on sweetums, maybe we can watch a movie once Rory is done looking through your library."

"Sure honeybunch, maybe we can show them your last movie." She suggested sweetly and the two headed out of the library.

"What was going on?" Rory burst out as the door closed.

"Nothing." Hunter replied quietly.

"Come on Logan, we are in this together whether you like it or not." She insisted

"She was warming up to me. I was about to tell her that we broke up when you and that jackass walked in. He's got terrible timing." Hunter shook his head in annoyance. "What about you?"

"He basically told me that they're not going to work out and that when that happens we should start seeing each other." Rory was unconscious of the smile that graced her features.

"Good for you then. But I don't think your plan of just talking to her would work. We may need another game plan." Hunter sighed.

"What are you going to do then?"

"Try and catch her by herself as much as possible. Hopefully that guy won't be constantly glued to her side." Hunter remarked grumpily.

"Look Logan, she's been through a lot. With you and with the other Logan. Just don't break her." Rory warned him quietly.

"I know that. I'll proceed with caution." Hunter agreed.

* * *

"What is the deal with you and that guy?" Logan tugged at her hand and led them to the family room.

"He's apologizing."

"What for?"

"For being born?" she shrugged.

Logan faced her and looked at her doubtfully. "He's the guy isn't he?"

"What guy?" she faked nonchalance.

"Come on Addy. He's the I think not know guy." He frowned at her.

"Yeah, he is."

"You like him better than me?" he looked at her in incredulity.

"I don't know. Right now I'm liking you more." She nudged his shoulder gently.

"As much as I appreciate the compliment I'd rather not be tossed over for someone like him." He looked sincerely offended at the idea.

"Come on Logan. I thought these four days would be all about us. I don't want you to waste our last few days together obsessing about another guy." She jokingly remarked.

"Look, I just don't think he deserves you." He replied truthfully.

"Well, lucky for him, that is for me to decide. I admit I have feelings for him."

"And?" he prompted when she did not say more.

"Actually that was it. I don't know if I want to act on those feelings or not. All I know for certain is that I want our last hurrah to be as enjoyable and memorable as possible. And that's not going to happen if you are paying more attention to Hunter than to me."

"If I didn't know any better I would say that you've attacked my masculinity twice already." He finally dropped the subject of Hunter.

"Prove me wrong?" she smiled at him.

"Always up for proving my manhood." He smirked at her but then gave her a serious look, "Just make sure he doesn't touch you for the rest of these four days. Or I'll have to break his hand."

"Man, aren't you possessive? I'll dodge whenever he feels the urge to touch me." She raised her hand in scout's honor.

"How about staying five feet away from him all the time?" he grasped her hands in his.

"That's pushing it."

"Four?"

"Three."

"Three and a half?"

"Three and I'll do whatever you want me to do?" she grinned at him.

"For real? Three feet it is." He smiled in satisfaction. "Think you're up to doing what I want right now?"

"Well…Rory is at the library, who knows how long she'll take to look at all the books?"

"You're right. Let's go get them and watch a movie."

"What?" she looked at her as if he lost his mind.

"Well if they are staying here for the night then it'll be that much harder to get rid of them. So if we watch the movie then we can make out in front of them, making them uncomfortable enough to call it a night."

"Okay…" she looked at him apprehensively.

"Come on, we'll moan and groan and just be over the top about it. They'll be ready to go to bed after a minute of our presentation." Logan looked at her hopefully.

"Do you know how outrageous that sounds?" she was still not convinced.

"The more outrageous it is the better. That way that guy will get the message loud and clear."

"And what message is that?"

"That you are mine." Logan declared confidently, "At least for the next four days." He amended at the look she gave him.

"You know you both refer to each other as 'that guy'." She giggled.

"Come on Addy Bell, let's give them the show that will make them gag." He pulled her to him and proceeded out of the room.

AN2: Okay so that's another update of this fic. Hope you guys like it. As I was writing this I thought that maybe Addy is not the type who would seek counselling so she never really discussed what happened to her. It's basically the first time she ever mentioned it and it was with Hunter. As for Logan, well he is pretty much coming to terms with the fact that he and Addy are over. This is basically just hormones taking over. They are still 'flushing' each other out of their system so to speak. Meanwhile Logan is disliking Hunter more and more, a confrontation will of course ensue and it is not just because of Addy, if you know what I mean (hint hint). Anyway, that's it for the day. I'll probably update again on Tuesday.

To my reviewers:

Lorelei of the Sea: Thanks for the review. I appreciate the constructive feedback. I guess at this point I'm so focused on the story that I tend to get carried away, not paying attention to my grammar. And the RoganE was not actually my idea, LoVe23 suggested it and I didn't want to break Jess and Veronica up so...Anyway, thanks for the feedback and for the review.

Problem Child1: I miss Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinni as well, thus the voting for dancing with the stars. But the way they both went out was too satisfying to pass up, especially Aaron. And I did read about the youtube 'helpmeveronica' on the CW lounge (shameless plugging). So I checked it out and I agree with you, particularly the second video. Creepy. I haven't checked out the livejournal, I don't know the link but I'll look for it. But I did get access to Veronica's case files. There was even a note from Mac, which hints at the password for V's laptop. The show's going all out and I can't help but be hooked either. Anyway, thanks for the review and for not throwing your tomatoes.

LoVe23: You are so right, I basically wrote this for you. But I really am enjoying it that's why I continue to be inspired. I hope you enjoyed the RoganE moment. And I did come up with a new pairing, LH and Addy. Obviously there are some feelings between the two that's why I figured it's a natural course of their relationship. In the next chapter Addy's view on the possiblity of Logan and Rory will be revealed. And I'm glad that LH is becoming more likable. Although if he and Logan ever come to blows I would still side with Logan. Thanks for the review as always, I'm glad you weren't disappointed with the previous chapter. I always have to think of your possible response because as I said earleir you did inspire this fic.

shotswithMrsKim: Thanks for the review. And you are right about it being complicated in a good way. There will be a confrontation between LH and Addy's parent. But for now they are acting polite just as social gatherings call for. Thanks for reviewing.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Thanks for reviewing. So there, the two weren't really as sneaky as everyone thought they'd be. Rory basically suggested that they be as straightforward as possible. So talking seems pretty straighforward enough, LH will have to do more obviously, I want him to work for it. And as for the Rory and LH friendship well they were friends before, after being honest with each other it seemed like they can just fall back to their old friendship. Logan and Addy's relationship has always been intense, that's what they actually have to work on. Thanks for the review.

tylerhiltongrupie53: Thanks for your enthusiastic response. I'm glad you are liking this fic. I try to be true to the character, so I'm glad you like it. About Keith not handing Veronica over to Jess is just too funny, I figured he might as well try to get it out his system so he won't do the same thing on the actual wedding, although he just might do it anyway. Thans as always for your awesome review.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hunter paced the room repeatedly. Rory sat the on the bed flipping through a book she found at the library.

"Can you believe them?" Hunter asked to the third time. Rory nodded absentmindedly in agreement.

"It's like they were going to have sex right then and there."

"Uh huh."

"I can tell she was uncomfortable with what they were doing."

"You mean her moans were signs of discomfort?" Rory asked amusement tinged her voice.

"Hey I thought you liked him, it doesn't bother you that they were going at it while we were sitting across from them?" Hunter glowered at her.

Rory rolled her eyes at him and put the book down, "I think they did that to get rid of us."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"No, not really." Rory shrugged.

"Why not?" Hunter asked impatiently.

"Because of the way Logan talked to me before we interrupted you two in the library."

"What did he say?"

"I just have a feeling that they are trying to say goodbye to each other, in a weird, convoluted way."

"Are you sure?" Hunter looked at her hopefully.

"We'll see won't we? Just stop being all possessive about Addy, she's not your girlfriend at the moment." Rory advised him sagely.

"Fine. He just better not try to do what he did again. Or I'll pull him off of her myself." Hunter replied crabbily.

* * *

It was one in the morning. Addy and Logan were sitting in front of the TV watching infomercials. Logan pulled her closer to him and smiled in contentment.

Jess and Veronica walked hand in hand into the room and were not at all surprised at the other couple were still awake.

"You guys still awake?" Jess smirked at the two.

Logan kissed Addy gently and moved from his position. He stalked towards the other couple and punched Jess on his arm.

"What the hell?" Jess dropped Veronica's hand and clutched his arm while frowning at Logan.

Addy got up and walked over rolling her eyes at Logan's actions.

"Dude, be thankful that I'm being considerate and did not hit that face of yours." Logan snarled.

"Again, what the hell?" Jess glowered at the other man.

"Take a chill pill Logan." Veronica put her hand gently on Jess' arm.

"He's just a little upset that you sent Rory and Hunter here unannounced." Addy answered for Logan, who was clenching and unclenching his fist.

"I tried calling you guys but you weren't picking up." Jess replied impatiently.

Addy grabbed Logan's fist and he relaxed under her touch, "Be cool Logan. Jess Logan is upset because Rory and Hunter caught us in bad time." She smiled at Jess.

"Big deal, get over it you jackass." Jess barked at Logan.

"Bad time." Addy said the words slowly.

"Oh." Understanding dawned on Veronica's face.

"And you did it on purpose." Logan looked at Jess through narrowed eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Jess rolled his eyes at him.

"I meant what I said. You did it on purpose. You wanted the two of them to walk in on us."

"It's not my fault you two were caught in a compromising situation." Jess scoffed.

"Yes it was, you called Maura and told her to let them in without telling us first."

"You did?" Addy looked at Jess in surprise.

"Fine, I just think what you two are doing is incredibly stupid." Jess admitted at Addy's stare.

"Jess Mariano. You really shouldn't have done that." Veronica chided.

"What are you talking about? You were in on it too." Jess rolled eyes at his fiancée.

"Not cool." Veronica slapped Jess' arm. Jess yelped in pain.

"You two need to focus on your impending wedding and just ignore us. Please." Addy gave them a pleading look.

"Yeah, what she said." Logan nodded in agreement.

"I should just hit you both on the head with a frying pan and be done with it." Jess put his arm around Veronica's shoulder.

"Isn't that a little too cartoony?" Veronica grinned at him.

"I ought to…" Logan was about to punch Jess again.

"Chill Logan." Addy rolled her eyes.

"I think we should leave the two of them alone to resolve their testosterone filled banter." Veronica shrugged Jess' arm off her shoulders and grabbed Addy's hand.

"I think that is an excellent idea Veronica Mars soon to be Mariano." Addy smiled at the other girl and walked out on them.

* * *

"How long do you think it'll take?" Addy asked Veronica as she took out the ice cream from the fridge.

"It won't take long. Those two like trying each other's patience. That's what makes their friendship unique." Veronica replied as she took out bowls and spoons from the cupboard.

"I hope you're right. I would rather not hear Logan going on and on about Jess. I already had to stop him from thinking of another guy a few hours ago." Addy commented as she scooped some ice cream into the bowl.

"Hunter getting on his nerves?"

"Yep."

"So…"

"So what?"

"Was it awkward?" Veronica asked tentatively.

"Boy was it ever! Logan had the smart idea of making out in front of the two to get rid of them faster." Addy blushed rosily.

"You did what?" Veronica looked aghast.

"Oh please don't make me repeat it. I'm horrified enough as it is." She dropped her spoon and covered her face with her hands.

"Addy…"

Addy removed her hands from her face and looked at Veronica.

"I'm sure it wasn't so bad."

"You weren't there. It started with mild kisses and ended with him straddling me, giving Hunter and Rory a great view of his butt."

Veronica bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"It's okay to laugh. Logan did when Hunter and Rory ran out of the room." Addy pouted.

"That Logan." Veronica shook her head in amusement. "I think you two will be okay."

"Okay?" a puzzled look crossed Addy's face.

"Jess is worried that you two will get hurt at the end of this arrangement."

"I don't think so. Logan is coming to terms and I think he even has his eyes on Rory."

"That doesn't bother you?" Veronica asked skeptically.

"No, it really doesn't. I think spending time together and then finally clearing up some of our issues helped. Seeing him kiss another girl helped in a strange way. It made me realize how hopeless we were."

"And yet you two are pretending to be a real couple and from the way Jess is acting there has been copulation."

"Blame it on a year and a half worth of pent-up sexual tension. Logan said he is flushing me out of his system."

"And he is doing that by sleeping with you?"

"I don't know, I told Jess that Logan explained it better." Addy shrugged.

"So what happens when the arrangement expires?"

"I go on my merry way and he goes on his. I definitely think that he and Rory have a future."

"But Rory is still with Hunter."

"She isn't. They broke up."

"How do you know?" Veronica was very curious to know.

"Well if they were still together they wouldn't have gone here when you told them that bowling was our complicated way of saying that you need some alone time with your significant other. Then there is the lack of touching, no PDA's on their part."

"Yeah I noticed that too." Veronica ate her ice cream thoughtfully.

"Logan and I are just tying up loose ends."

"Jess gave me the impression that you and Logan will be done once we leave for the honeymoon."

"Yeah, we have a four day deal."

"He may be coming to terms but he needs more than four days."

"I know. I actually have a contingency plan."

Veronica nodded agreeably.

"You do know that when Logan and Rory start seeing each other that you will be seeing more of her too." Addy began as she scooped more ice cream. "Don't you think it's kind of awkward that your ex and Jess' ex?"

"I haven't thought of that. But if she is going to make him happy then I have no choice." Veronica shrugged. "Besides, I can't cut Logan out of my life just because my Jess dated his would be girlfriend. As long as he's happy with her I'm okay with everything."

"I think she will. Make him happy that is." Addy nodded with such conviction.

* * *

"Nice going jackass." Jess sneered at Logan.

"You're blaming me? You're the jackass." Logan glowered at the other man.

"If you hadn't punched me, this entire thing wouldn't have happened." Jess retorted.

"If you hadn't told them they could come here then we wouldn't have been humiliated." Logan snapped back.

"Who are you kidding Echolls? You never get humiliated when you are caught in a compromising situation." Jess jeered.

"I wasn't but Addy was. She had to hide behind me while she struggled with her clothes you ass."

At his words Jess finally looked guilty.

"You know how she likes to be cool and composed; well she is anything but cool when Hunter turned on the light. He is an even bigger ass than you." Logan glared at him.

"Look I didn't think-"

"That's right you didn't. You were fighting my arrangement with Addy so hard that you forget that she wants it too."

"Look man, all I know is that you have this inane ability to hurt her. I just don't want history repeating itself." Jess stated quietly.

"You forget she hurt me too." Logan uttered in the same tone.

"So why are you still doing this?"

"Because I love her and she loves me."

"She's in love with someone else."

"I know."

"And you are okay with that?"

"I have to be." Logan crossed his arms across his chest.

"Come on you a-hole. Let's go look for them." Jess rolled his eyes at him.

"They're probably in the kitchen." Logan glared at the other man.

"Eating ice cream?" Jess shot an amused look at him.

"Most probably." Logan started for the door. He turned and smiled magnanimously at Jess, "I have a thought."

Jess eyed him suspiciously, "Did it hurt?"

"No not so much. Anyway, we can finally find out the truth." Logan grinned.

"The truth?" Jess looked at him skeptically.

"About who is the better kisser. I know Veronica said you were. But come on, man she has to say you, because you two are together and all. Let's ask Rory and she'll probably say that I am the better kisser." Logan smirked at him confidently and then he ran for the kitchen.

"Oh that's right you better run." Jess shouted to the empty room and ran after him.

* * *

FRIDAY

"Good morning." Logan greeted Rory as she entered the dining room.

"Good morning." She smiled at him as she took a seat across from him.

"Pretty late start." He commented as he looked at the clock that said it was already ten in the morning.

"Yeah, I was up reading the books from the library." She replied as she buttered her toast.

"Books huh." Logan shook his head disapprovingly. "So are you ready for today? I heard Addy had the day planned out for you women folk."

"Yeah, I guess so. I think we're going to the spa after lunch and then from there we have a bunch of other activities."

"Well make sure Veronica doesn't drink too much of the alcoholic beverages. She tends to turn blotchy when she drinks. Wouldn't want her to be less than perfect for her wedding, would we?" Logan smiled fondly.

"I'll be sure to make a mental note of that. So where's Addy?" Rory looked at the door to the kitchen expectantly.

"She is busy with last minute wedding details." Logan took a drink of his coffee. "Where's Logan2?

"He's making calls upstairs. Making sure that the business will still be there when we go back."

"Okay. Tell me when you and Hunter are ready to go back to the Mariano Manor. I'll give you two a lift." Logan stood up and looked at her expectantly.

"It's just a ten minute walk to his house. And we actually drove here in Jess' car so…"

Logan was quiet and thoughtful, "How about we go to the beach? Addy's busy, Hunter's busy; might as well show you the real Neptune, CA. So next time you'll know not to come here." Logan grinned at his last declaration.

"Okay." Rory did not have to think twice before she answered. "I'll just tell Hunter that we're going out. But we have to be back before we have to leave for the spa."

"Don't worry about it. I'll call Addy and tell her to wait for you just in case." Logan took out his phone and pressed one number. "Hey, sweetums…"

Rory smiled weakly at him and then headed back to the staircase and tell Hunter about their plan.

* * *

"What's going on dad? I have to leave for the spa in two hours." Veronica stated as she sat down on the couch, right next to Jess.

"This won't take that long, besides Jess here needs to know that your old man doesn't flake on you without a good reason." Keith replied as he set down a big silver box on the coffee table.

"Really Keith it's completely unnecessary. As long as you are here for the actual ceremony I have no comment at all." Jess responded to his almost father-in-law's goading.

"Well I still have to do this anyway." He gestured to the box and waved goodbye to them.

"Where are you going?" Veronica asked loudly before he left the room.

"I'm only the messenger. Open the box and you'll know why I had to skip some of the wedding activities." Keith nodded and then left the two alone.

"Do you think it's a bomb that's DNA activated, my DNA to be exact?" Jess asked her warily.

"Oh don't be such a wuss." Veronica replied as she got up from the couch and started opening the box. She found a DVD case without a cover. She handed it to Jess, who popped it into the DVD player.

The two sat down on the couch and waited for whatever is on the DVD to start. Veronica leaned forward in surprise as she saw Duncan Kane.

"Hi Veronica. Yeah, it is me. It's been five years since we last saw each other. I'm now only breaking my promise not to contact you." Duncan smiled at the camera. "Two months ago I found out that you were getting married. That's why Mr. Mars had to run off these last two weeks. I wanted to send you something for your nuptials. When he said that your future husband was complaining about his absence to his face I knew you found your perfect match. I just want to say congratulations."

"Lilly is four now, she's beautiful just like Lilly and Meg. I just want to thank you for helping me with my daughter. I owe you my life" he looked serious as he said this.

"So you're probably wondering why I bothered with this. I wanted to send my congratulations and I hope that you'll be happy. You deserve it Veronica and I hope that Jess, your dad said that's you fiancé's name, will make you happy for the rest of your life." Duncan nodded at his declaration.

"By the way the box has my wedding gift for you two. And I hope one day I'll be able to see firsthand that you and Jess are happy. Again congratulations and can you tell Logan thanks for the champagne and that I'm glad that he understood." Duncan saluted and then the screen became black.

"So that's Duncan Kane." Jess commented after a long silence.

Veronica looked at him thoughtfully and smiled sadly, "Yeah that's Duncan alright."

"Why the sad face?" Jess inquired softly.

"It's not fair that he has to live a life on the run because of the awful Mannings." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Come on; let's take a look at what he got us for the wedding." Jess got up and tugged at her hand.

Veronica walked over to the box with him. Once they had it completely opened it revealed a toaster.

"An heir to billions and he gives us a toaster." Jess stated wryly.

"Come on, like you would accept something extravagant from him." Veronica laughed as she saw the look on his face.

"You're probably right. We can keep it up at the attic and never talk of it ever again." Jess nodded gravely.

"Unbelievable. But you would accept anything Logan gets us." Veronica shook her head in disbelief.

"Logan for all intents and purposes is my friend. Besides even if he has millions he tends to be cheap, I think Addy said he took a look at the wedding registry and picked the cheapest one from the list." Jess smirked at her.

"Logan's not a cheapskate. He's loaning us his house in Napa for a year. Add that to the present from the wedding registry." Veronica countered.

"Fine. It's just that Logan never gave you a fortune cookie that said 'True love stories never have endings." He muttered mockingly.

"Yeah he just called us epic. Which to my recollection you never let me forget." She tilted her head at him.

"You never would have fallen for such a cheesy gesture as the fortune cookie if it came from Logan." He reminded her.

"What are you talking about? I fall for your cheesy romantic gestures all the time." She smiled at him.

"You'd better." Was his only response as he proceeded to take her breath away.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm eating ice cream at eleven in the morning." Rory shook her head in disbelief as she got out of the car.

"Who are you kidding? Jess told me that you and your mother have a bad habit of eating junk all the time." Logan grinned at her.

"Fine, but we don't usually wait for an ice cream shop to open just to buy ice cream." Rory rolled her eyes at him.

There were already at Dog Beach walking along the shore as they ate their ice cream. The sea was calm and the breeze was barely noticeable.

"That was a first for me too. I usually just bribe my way through the doors and they'd let me in. Apparently the proprietor of that particular shop never heard of me." Logan stated in mock indignation.

"His loss." Rory smiled at him.

"Oh definitely. Anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of my company is severely lacking." He puffed out his chest confidently.

"You're funny." She shook her head at him.

"You only realized this now. Now Gilmore, you have to be constantly aware of all the great aspects of my being." He reprimanded her teasingly.

"I'll keep that in mind." She responded smilingly.

"Good and I'll be aware of yours." He gave her an appraising look.

"I suddenly feel very dirty." Rory laughed.

"Feeling dirty is good sometimes." He grinned at her.

"Why Logan Echolls are you flirting with me?" she asked him as she tried to hold back her laughter.

"If you have to ask then I ain't doing it right." Logan kept grinning at her.

"Well I'm flattered." The two of them looked at each other for awhile. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear she smiled at him.

They've been quiet for a while. "So you and Hunter have been a couple for what? Nine years?" Logan asked her, a curious look on his face.

"Eight." Rory was curt in her answer.

"And still no ring on your finger?" he asked her with a trace of amusement.

"Well we are focusing on our careers."

"Jess and Veronica are focusing on their careers but they are getting married tomorrow."

"Why the sudden interest in me and Logan?" she asked him archly.

"I'm a curious guy." He shrugged.

"You want to know the truth? We broke up. Okay? I told him about our kiss and we decided that we are not for each other." Rory blurted out in her impatience.

"You did?" Logan raised his eyebrow at her.

"Yes we did. Logan and I are no longer a couple." She replied flatly.

"And yet he is still here, when he has no obvious reason to stick around for the wedding. After all Jess isn't exactly fond of him." He looked at her critically.

"What do you want me to say? He's here because this is the first vacation he's had in years." She countered.

Logan was quiet for a bit. Then out of nowhere he pointed to the other end of the beach. He told her about the adventure that he and Veronica had with the famous Kane siblings during their homecoming dance years ago.

"Why did you take me here Logan?" Rory asked her after he recounted his memory.

"I just wanted to hang with you." He replied easily.

"You want to know why Hunter is still here." Rory looked at him tiredly.

"Yes." He answered honestly.

"It's because of Addy." She replied just as honestly.

"Do you know why?"

"Yes."

"But you're not going to tell me."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's not my place to say anything."

Logan looked at her and then at the water.

"What does she have that makes guys like you and Logan crazy?" she asked in her exasperation.

"Look Rory, I still meant what I said last night. Addy and I we're not going to work out. But the thought of her ending up with…" Logan raked his fingers through his hair unable to complete his thought.

"Ultimately it's her decision." She responded quietly.

"Come on. Let's head back." Logan touched her elbow gently and ushered her back to his car.

It started out great.

AN: The wedding is fast approaching so I'm trying to cram in as much as I can in each chapter. Hopefully it's not too overwhelming. Anyway, I'm almost done with the story. I had hinted that Keith has been away for some of the wedding activities and it was because of Duncan. I wanted there to be a complete certainty in terms of Jess and Veronica's relationship. By incorporating Duncan into the story, there is no doubt that Jess and Veronica are in for the long haul.

To my reviewers:

tylerhiltongrupie53: Thanks for the review. I'm glad that you like the way I write Logan. I wanted to show that the Townsends were not just monetary supporters of Jess. The book as a gift seemed like the perfect way to show that simple things can mean more than anything in the world. The map thing will come up later on. Thanks again for reviewing.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: I figured might as well make their plan straightforward, otherwise LH won't be able to win Addy back. I hope you liked the Rory and Logan moment here as well. As for LH and Addy, well the answer is in this chapter. What you said actually made a lot of sense, about them being right. Thanks for the review.

LoVe23: Thanks as always for the review. I'm glad you liked last chapter, Logan is so fun to write. And your reaction to that particular line is so gratifying, I was thinking that it would sound like something that Logan would say, he always likes to play with words. Anyway, as for the LH and Addy pairing, I couldn't help myself, I want happy ending all around. Although my plan for them- well you'll see. Oh and you're making me blush with your awesome words. I just have to thank you for keeping this fic going. On another note, have you checked out the CW site. It's great, they have this awesome features, they have a director's cut of VM and Gilmore Girls. Check it out. And the lounge they have all sorts of polls and discussions about the show. But the greatest part is the new myspace for each of the characters of Veronica Mars. It has Veronica, Logan, Mac, Dick, Wallace, the new characters, Piz and Parker. Anyway, it's so cute especially Veronica's and Logan's. Thanks again for the review.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: A few profanities here and there, you have been warned.

The music was loud. Logan Echolls can't help but be a little irritated. After all he already experienced this two nights ago.

Once again Wallace and Addy switched roles as the best friends of the bride and the groom. The ladies had their myriad of activities since this afternoon. Meanwhile he and the rest of the men were picked up by an SUV limo and brought back to the same airfield they went to two nights ago. When Wallace used the airfield hangar to throw the bachelor party; two nights ago it was justified. They were partying at four o clock in the morning. But it was only ten in the evening; they actually have four hours more before the cops crash the party.

Although he had to admit that the belly dancers instead of strippers were still cool. The open bar was barely being used. Most of them knew that Veronica would kill them if they attended her wedding with a hangover.

Richard Gilmore and Jason Townsend were smoking cigars as they watched the show. Jess was surrounded by the belly dancers while Wallace, Eli, Keith and Luke looked on.

"Luke, come on a little help here." Jess shouted over the music.

"What? I can't hear you." Luke pretended cup his hand to his ear and shook his head in the negative. He shared a look with Keith who was openly laughing at Jess' discomfort.

"Jess you dog you. I didn't know you had a fetish for belly dancing. I better warn my daughter about that." Keith mockingly yelled for Jess to hear.

"This wasn't my idea. It was Wallace, it's his entire fault." Jess screamed back. This time it was Keith who pretended that he can't hear him.

Jess kept shouting at anyone who would listen to get the women off of him but the other men just ignored him and watched as he became more and more agitated. Hunter was the only one hanging around the bar.

Logan's eye narrowed as he saw the other man. He already disliked him for the way he treated Rory when she surfed with him. That irritation mounted as he kept seeing him eye Addy and had the gall to actually touch her. The knowledge that Addy had feelings for the jackass, the fact that Hunter broke up with an amazing woman like Rory; was enough to make him want to rip him apart.

Logan stalked towards the bar purposefully. He ordered scotch on the rocks and sat next to Hunter.

"Trying to find the prize at the bottom of that glass." He looked at Hunter critically.

"Nah, just thirsty." Hunter forced a smile.

"Drinking vodka won't quench your thirst."

"What do you suggest?" Hunter looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"Water works wonders usually."

"Says the man drinking scotch."

"It's just for show. I need my sobriety if I'm going to be up all night." Logan smirked at him.

"Why would you be up all night?" Hunter asked him coolly.

"Well I need to be alert when I entertain Addy tonight." He waggled his brows at him suggestively.

"Entertain? Is that what you kids are calling it these days?" Hunter frowned at him.

"Among other things." Logan can't help the smirk that was plastered on his face, he was grating on the other guy's nerve, he just knew it.

"Next time try not to call your girlfriend a whore in front of someone you barely know." Hunter glared at him and ordered another shot.

"I wasn't aware I was calling Addy a whore." He lost his smirk at the turn of the conversation.

"Whatever." Hunter waved his hand at him dismissively.

"Those words came from you man, not me. I have nothing but love and respect for Adriana. If you have the balls to call her a whore then why are you here?" Logan pushed his drink away and turned to face Hunter.

"Look, you don't want to mess with me right now."

"Yo, shorty I can take you any day of the week." Logan looked down on him and sneered.

"First of all I'm not short. Second _I _could take you any day of the week. Finally you know nothing about Addy if you are here trying to start a fight with me." Hunter looked at him dismissively.

"No you don't know her, because if you did you would have been on the next flight back to your side of the continent. No one wants you here."

"I've known her since she was five, I think I can judge if she wants me here or not."

"What a coincidence? I've known her since she was five too. Only I never heard of you till you got here a few days ago."

"You'll know me as her only love when I steal her away from you." Hunter downed his drink and was about to walk away.

Logan grabbed his shoulder and threw a punch. It landed right on Hunter's right eye. Within seconds everyone else came between them. Jess pulled Logan away from him and steered him across the room. Hunter was clutching his eye when someone grabbed his arm and took him outside the hangar.

"I think you should leave." Jason Townsend told him stonily.

Hunter looked a little afraid of the older man. "Sir, I didn't mean to stir up some trouble."

"I really don't have any patience to hear anything you say. To me you are your father's son. The only reason you are still here is because my daughter vouched for your ignorance of what happened to her nine years ago. But I will not have you picking a fight with her boyfriend. The limo will drive you back to the house." Jason turned his back on him and went back to the party.

* * *

Hunter was fuming. First he got punched then the first words that Addy's father uttered to him were filled with such contempt. 

He headed for the library, not at all ready to head to bed. When he entered the room he could barely recognize it as a library. Curtains were drawn covering all the books. There was a banner proclaiming congratulations for Jess and his impending marriage. There was a map and a pile of paperwork on one of the tables, a few bottles of wine and at the corner was a motorcycle. Adriana was struggling with something right next to it; she did not notice him at all.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked harshly.

Addy whirled around and frowned at his interruption. "Making sure that this thing is all secure."

"What?" this time he said it in a softer tone. He tried to cross the distance between them but she held her hand up to tell him to stop.

Whatever she was going to say she forgot the moment she saw his shiner. "What the hell? Why are you sporting a black eye?" she frowned at him and then went out of the library.

He followed her as she went to the kitchen. She tossed him a bag of peas and instructed him to put it on his swollen eye.

"You're going to have to wear makeup to cover that up." She stated flatly as she watched him put the peas on his eye.

"Why would I wear makeup?" he winced as his face came in contact with the cold bag.

"You wouldn't want to ruin the wedding pictures with an ugly black eye." She wrinkled her nose at him.

"So why is there a Harley Davidson in the library?" Hunter changed the subject, not wanting to be accused of starting a fight with her boyfriend by her.

"It's a gag gift for Jess, just in case he wants to bolt."

"You are encouraging him to leave his fiancée at the altar." He sounded incredibly shocked at the thought.

"It's a GAG gift." She put emphasis on the word gag. "I was actually checking if it was securely bolted to the floor. It's a joke; I told him when he informed me that he was getting married that I would supply him a mode of transportation in case he feels the urge to be a runaway groom."

Hunter grinned at her and she smiled back.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked patiently.

"I'd really rather not." He replied as he walked towards her. Addy stepped back and shook her head at him in exasperation. She then shrugged and headed back to the library.

He was closing in on her; she whirled around and faced him. "You have to keep your distance." She told him as he was a good three feet from her.

"Why?" an incredulous look on his face.

"I'm just saying. You wouldn't want another shiner to accompany that one." She pointed at his right eye.

"So you know who gave me the shiner." He looked at her critically.

"Not really hard to guess. Only Logan doesn't punch anyone without good reason. Granted he used to but he doesn't anymore." she shrugged.

"So he ordered you to keep away from me?" he raised his brow at her.

"We more or less compromised. Why don't you retire for the night? I'll help you with that tomorrow." She suggested quietly as she nodded at his black eye.

Hunter shook his head at her, "Now why would he order you to stay away from me? Unless…" Hunter looked like he was discovering something amazing.

"Logan is the jealous type. Would you believe he was threatened by Wallace, teddy bear Wallace? Don't make too much of it." She countered dismissively.

"Look Addy-" Hunter began as he walked towards her, she in turn walked backwards for each step he took.

"Stop right there!" Logan quietly stated from the door of the library.

"What do you have a sixth sense whenever I'm with her?" an exasperated Hunter asked Logan.

"No, I'm supposed to help her with this stuff. See that's what boyfriends do, they don't go calling other men's girlfriends whores." Logan retorted as he walked towards Addy.

"You called me a whore." Addy looked doubtfully between Logan and Hunter.

"No-"

"Why don't you just retire for the night and leave Addy to me." Logan suggested in a steely tone as he put his arm around Addy.

"Logan." Addy whispered warningly.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I had too much to drink that I didn't know what I was saying. I was jealous okay!" Hunter burst out.

"I don't care." Logan retorted angrily. "Why don't you just leave? Go back to whatever hellhole you came from."

"Logan!" Addy shrugged his arm off her shoulder.

"I wasn't talking to you asshole!" Hunter snapped back.

"Hunter!" Addy looked at him angrily.

Logan started to walk towards Hunter while Hunter stared at him defiantly.

"Would you two just stop!" Addy said in an exasperated voice and walked out on them.

The two men looked at the door as she slammed it and continued their staring contest. Not a lot of time passed when she came back. She had a bag of corn kernels which she proceeded to put on Logan's hand tenderly.

"Stop clenching your fist." She ordered quietly. After she made sure that Logan was holding the bag to his hand she walked over to Hunter, took the forgotten bag of peas from his hand and placed it on his shiner.

"Now you two will stop behaving like a couple of jackasses and start acting like the grown men that you both are." Once she was sure that Hunter was going to keep the bag on his eye she went back to Logan's side. She took the bag from him and checked his hand. Logan allowed their fingers to intertwine and shot a triumphant look at Hunter when Addy did not protest. Addy just rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

"You and I promised Jess and Veronica a drama free wedding. Now we are going to keep that promise so no more fighting with your fellow Logan." She looked at Logan intently.

She switched her attention to Hunter, "Now while I understand why you are behaving the way that you are I will not stand for it, not if it means that my best friend will have a less than perfect wedding." She looked at Logan as well. "I'm with you. And when I say I'm with you, I _really am_ with you." Addy focused on Logan who nodded slowly at her words.

She turned back to Hunter, "As for you, if you want to be a part of my life at all you will stop trying to pick a fight with my boyfriend. I am not asking you guys to start being each others BFF, all I am asking for is something that you two are both capable of doing, behave like grown men, you both come from rich, privileged families, you should know how to fake it by now." She stated reproachfully.

The two looked thoroughly chastised at her words. She checked Logan's hand again and kissed his hand softly. Logan's gaze softened at her actions, "Okay." He murmured in agreement.

"I'll do my best." Hunter agreed, despite the hurt that rushed through him as she kissed Logan's hand.

"Now why don't you retire for the night." She suggested to Hunter, "The women are all sleeping soundly over at my house. The bachelor party is supposed to be over in an hour. So they'll be heading back soon. You," she turned to Logan, "check the motorcycle; something is wrong with the bolt. I want to make sure that we are done before Jess gets back here."

"Goodnight then." Hunter looked at the both of them; Logan nodded at his direction and went to the Harley. Addy walked up to him and checked his eye. "Keep it on for another hour then it won't darken as much." She smiled at him and kissed his cheek in goodnight. Hunter smiled at her and nodded again.

Once he was gone Logan frowned at her, "Wipe that frown off Logan. You don't look as pretty with that expression on your face."

"Was that necessary?" his frown turned into a full blown scowl.

"He looked so…you know. It was just a goodnight kiss, on the cheek. It's not like I made out with him." She rolled her eyes at him

"Still." Logan stubbornly insisted.

Addy walked towards him and grabbed his face forcefully. She kissed him on the cheeks on his forehead and finally on the lips. When their lips connected it wasn't long before it became a full make out session.

'There, you win. Satisfied." She murmured against his chest as they parted.

"Hardly." Was his only answer as he pulled her against him and kissed her again.

"Now can we go back to the motorcycle? I don't think it's securely bolted to the floor." Addy relayed once again to Logan's chest.

"Okay, okay." Logan raised both his hands up and rolled his eyes at her.

"So how was the excursion with Rory earlier?" Addy asked as she tried to help Logan with the Harley.

"I can handle this. Just sit on the chair and look pretty. And it was okay." Logan waved her off.

Addy slapped his arm at his remark, "Just okay?"

"Yes now stop nagging, I need to focus."

Addy rolled his eyes at him, "You asked her about Hunter didn't you?"

"Can we not talk about this now?" Logan rolled her eyes at her.

"Fine, as you wish." She conceded.

"As you wish what?" Logan asked her teasingly.

"As you wish oh glorious one." Addy finished sarcastically.

"This time say it without the sarcasm." Logan grinned widely.

"As you wish oh glorious Logan." She shook her head and smiled back.

AN2: Thanks for reading. So that was the big confrontation between LE and LH. I tried to come up with a good enough reason for them to come to blows and LH insulting Addy seemed right. The confrontation between them seemed inevitable especially since they are after each other's girlfriend (or ex in LH's case), and even if I was starting to like LH in this story I couldn't really let him land a blow on LE, he is just too pretty. Anyway, thanks for reading and the next chapter will be up on Saturday.

To my reviewers:

Problem Child1: Thanks for reviewing. I don't mind if you don't get to review every chapter, I'm just happy that you are reading this fic and that you like it as well. And if you loved the Veronica and Jess from last chapter then I think you're going to like the next chapter, since I decided to just focus on them. Thanks again for the review.

Sagebeth: You are not the first to dislike her in the beginning but I'm glad that you like her now. As for her age, she is the same age as Logan and Veronica. I mentioned that she moved to Neptune during the VM gang's junior year. As for the RoganE pairing I think they would complement each other very well. I' m so happy that you liked the Veronica and Jess, they are fun to write about. Thanks for reviewing.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Hope this was soon enough for you. Thanks for the review. I don't want to give away the ending but it'll be a pretty happy one. As for Logan being attached, I did write him that way. But the reason for his attachment to Addy is not just a romantic one. I'll explain that later. Anyway, your review was much appreciated.

shotwithMrsKim: I'm glad you liked the V/J moment, there'll be more of that next chapter. And regarding the RoganE moment it was meant to be a little awkward with the right amount of flirtation. I guess you could say that their relationship is different than anyone else's, the first time they actually talked they had a very good conversation and the fact that LE confided in Rory tells a lot. As for the Addy factor, Logan pretty much knows that they are doomed, especially since Jess told him that she's in love with someone else. But I will resolve their issues soon enough. Thanks for reviewing.

LoVe23: Thanks for the review. The reason why I wrote in Duncan was because in my mind he could pop up and ruin things for Veronica and Jess if I didn't lay everything to rest. I'm glad you liked it. As for Logan telling Jess that they could ask Rory who the better kisser was, well I couldn't help myself. It was very likely scenario that Logan would put himself in. I did picture the opening scene in my head and Rory being all calm and composed was mainly because Logan talked to her. While LH was cut off before he can be reassured, by Logan who has impeccable timing. Thanks for reviewing, I always look forward to reading what you have to say after each post. And I did watch the CW special, I liked the VM part and also the Gilmore Girls. Can't wait for next week. Have you added the VM cast to your Myspace? I loved Logan's homepage. Interest: Veronica Mars.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

SATURDAY

**WEDDING DAY**

Veronica woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. She sat up to hit the snooze button and rubbed her bleary eyes. A rush of excitement went through as she realized that it was her wedding day.

She was more alert when she realized that she wasn't alone in the room that Addy reserved for her the night before. Sitting on the chair in one corner is the one and only Keith Mars, smiling at her direction.

"Good morning daddy." She greeted him with a wide smile.

"Good morning sunshine." Keith smiled sadly at her.

"I'm getting married." She burst out happily.

"You're getting married." He nodded in agreement.

She stood up on the bed and started jumping on it all the while chanting "I'm getting married" and then she did a happy dance while Keith looked on, shaking his head at her antics.

Once she got that out of her system she finally got off the bed and into her father's open arms.

"My baby's getting married." Keith declared mournfully.

"Now dad, don't think of it as losing a daughter, think of it as gaining a son." She smiled at her dad's sad expression.

"But I don't want Jess." Keith mock pouted.

Veronica shrugged and said, "I'm getting married daddy." Tears of joy were threatening to burst.

"You're getting married." Kith nodded and the two looked at each other and laughed out loud.

* * *

Jess was awake. He woke up at five as he usually did but somehow he fell asleep again. It was now nine in the morning and he was staring up at the ceiling. He's getting married today. He could feel a knot of anticipation forming in his stomach.

He finally got out of bed and changed out of his pajamas. He sat back down on the bed and just stared blankly into space. A knock on the door woke him from his reverie. He couldn't muster a response so he just stood up and opened the door.

Luke smiled at the glazed expression of his nephew. He patted his back in congratulations but Jess was still unmoved.

"You're getting married." Luke smirked at him.

At his words Jess came alive. A slow smile worked its way on his face until it became a full blown grin. Jess nodded at his uncle's proclamation.

"I'm getting married." Jess uttered the words with such wonder.

Luke nodded and smiled.

"I'm marrying Veronica Mars today." Jess affirmed. Then out of nowhere he flopped back down on the bed and grinned at the ceiling. Luke looked at his nephew quizzically and sat down at the edge of the bed.

"I'm getting married." He remarked happily.

* * *

Veronica and Keith went down the stairs and walked to the dining room, a buffet of food was awaiting them. Wallace was grinning widely at Veronica.

"V, you're getting married." He greeted with a smile.

"Not this again. I thought we already covered that." Keith pretended to be impatient, but the smile on his face was not cooperating.

"I'm getting married." Veronica smiled at her best friend, who proceeded to envelop her in a hug.

"Come on, let's eat. You have a big day ahead of you." Keith walked arm in arm with his daughter to the table.

"I don't think I can eat." Veronica mused quietly.

Keith stopped walking and looked at her in disbelief, "Well I never thought I'd see the day that my daughter would utter such words."

Wallace looked at her worriedly, "Are you okay Veronica?"

"I'm just too excited. I'm getting married." She squealed happily. The two men exchanged amused looks and mock squealed right along with her.

Jess hung up the phone and shook his head at the look that Luke was giving him.

"What?" an annoyed Jess asked Luke.

"Nothing. I'm just proud of you." Luke smiled at his nephew. Jess grinned at his uncle and nodded.

The two of them proceeded to the dining room and found most of the male guests were up and about.

"Dude, big day." Dick grinned at him.

Richard and Jason walked over to him and shook his hand in congratulations.

"Hours from now you will be joining a very exclusive club, the club for husbands." Richard smilingly stated.

"Yeah, enjoy it while it lasts." Luke interjected.

The rest of the men laughed but no one bothered to contradict Luke. A round of handshakes went around; Jess just nodded and smiled at each comment directed his way.

"Take care of V okay?" Eli reminded him when it was his turn to congratulate the groom.

"Always." Was Jess' sincere response.

"You're getting married." Logan stated as he shook Jess' hand.

"I am." Jess nodded good-naturedly.

"Here. You'll need it." Logan handed him a cup of black liquid.

"This isn't Irish coffee by any chance?" Jess shot him a skeptical look.

"Taste it and you'll know." Logan replied.

Jess drank from the cup, "It's just coffee." A confused look on his face.

"Of course it is. Did you think I'd give you alcohol today of all days? Veronica's going to kill me if she knew and Addy will bury me alive." Logan rolled his eyes at him, "Besides, you need to be fully awake for tonight."

"Mind out of the gutter man." Jess shook his head in amusement.

"I'll try, but only for today." Logan jokingly replied.

* * *

The rest of the wedding guests joined Veronica, Keith and Wallace for breakfast. Everyone was bitten by the wedding bug. The excitement was palpable, so was the joy that emanated from Veronica.

"Veronica how much coffee had you have?" Lorelai jokingly asked.

"Mom!" Rory gave her a reproachful look.

"What? It's just that she seems to be hyper." Lorelai remarked.

"It's called wedding jitters Lorelai. She's excited after all she is getting married." Emily shook her head in disapproval.

"I had one cup. That's it. Whatever this is, it's not caffeine." Veronica replied to Lorelai's earlier question with a wide smile on her face.

Before they could say anymore the door bell rang, Keith went to the door to answer it and when he came back an exasperated grin was on his face.

"Who was it dad?" Veronica worriedly.

"Just delivery guys."

"But I don't remember Addy telling me that she's expecting something to be delivered." Veronica's brows furrowed.

"That's because it's not for her. It's for you oh daughter of mine." Keith smiled at her.

Before anyone could react two men came in carrying vases of tulips. They asked Keith where to put them but Veronica stood up and squealed in delight as she reached for the flowers.

"Right here is fine." Keith replied tiredly.

"How many are there?" Veronica asked one of the delivery guys as she cradled a tulip in her hand.

"Three hundred and sixty."

"Why three hundred and sixty?" Lorelai asked for everyone else.

"There's a card." Veronica spotted on one of the vases. "For every minute until…"

"Until what?" Rory pressed as Veronica seemed lost in a thought.

"Until the wedding. Don't you see, it's ten now, the wedding is at four so there is still six hours until Jess and I get married. So that's six multiply by sixty and we get-"

"Three hundred and sixty tulips." Muriel smiled fondly at her.

"Yes. Exactly." Veronica sighed happily and so did the rest of the women. Keith and Wallace just rolled their eyes.

* * *

"So why exactly am I going to the library, when I should be upstairs making sure that my clothes for the wedding is where it should be?" Jess asked exasperatedly at Logan who was pushing him to the direction of the library.

"Because you need to gather your thoughts. You said it yourself; you do your great thinking inside that room." Logan reminded him.

"Look I don't need to think anymore. I know what I want and I want to marry Veronica. I don't need any distraction; you don't have to do this man." Jess retorted.

"Just get in there." Logan smacked his arm in annoyance.

"Watch it."

When Logan opened the door Jess barely recognized his library. The curtains covered everything, a huge banner hung across the library and Addy was standing by a motorcycle.

"What is all this for?" Jess asked completely in awe.

"For you silly." Addy smiled at her friend warmly.

Logan left the two of them alone and Addy walked over to her best friend and hugged him.

"Why?"

"Well the bike is in case you feel the need to run away."

Jess walked over to the motorcycle and looked at her, puzzled. "It's bolted to the floor."

"Of course it is. It's not for actual riding right now. You can ride it when you and Veronica are married."

"And those, what are they for?" he pointed to the table with the map and a pile of paper.

"The map is from mom and dad. You and Veronica can pick any place on earth and they'll give you access to it. The paperwork is from me. I'm giving you full control of WI. It's yours Jess, just as soon as you sign that, which can wait once you and Veronica come back from the honeymoon." She grinned at Jess.

"Are you sure?" Jess cast a skeptic look at her.

"Of course, it's your company; it has been yours for the last three years. Papi would have loved you to have it."

"Thanks." He murmured quietly as he hugged her again.

"And the bike? Didn't you say it's a gas guzzling pile of crap?" he smirked at her.

"Well it's too hard to put a fuel efficient car in here so I totally settled." She shrugged.

"I'm getting married." Jess stated confidently.

"Yes you are, to a wonderful woman. I'm so happy for you Jess." She slugged his arm lightly.

"I'm happy for me too." Jess grinned widely.

"Okay, I'm heading out. Wallace and I are switching since the hair and make-up ladies are at my house. He'll call me if you need me for any best man duties. And Jess, try and save your smiles for the wedding okay?"

"I'm sure I'll have more smiles for the actual ceremony." Jess shook his head at her.

"Make sure you don't spill anything on your suit."

"Quit mothering me. And I won't." He pushed her out of the library gently.

* * *

"Hey Ronnie." Logan greeted as he stepped into the room.

"What are you doing here Logan?" Veronica smiled at him.

"Can't I just wish the blushing bride complete happiness?" he leaned against the door frame and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"I've known you too long to fall for your BS." Veronica tilted her head at him.

"You wound me with your harsh words." Logan clutched his hands to his heart.

"Yeah, right. So what's up?"

"I come bearing gifts." He held out a jewelry box to her.

She looked at him suspiciously and took the box out of his hands. When she opened it she whistled at what she saw and shot him a questioning look.

"Something new, didn't you wonder why Addy didn't give you anything?" he smiled at her.

"And this is from you?" she looked dubious as she asked him.

"No. I'm merely a messenger since Addy switched to panic mode."

"Is there something wrong?" an anxious look crossed her features.

"Nothing that Addy can't deal with. The hair person is late, apparently she was supposed to be here already, and I guess she was stuck in traffic or something. Worry not; Addy has Lorelai on hand, they are dealing with the hair issue as we speak."

Veronica breathed easier at the knowledge that it was nothing major. She looked at the jewelry box again and then the ring on her finger. "They match."

"Man, they sure teach you the power of observation in Stanford." Logan chuckled at her scrutiny.

"Shut up Echolls." But she completely contradicted her words by smiling at him. "So this is from Addy?"

"Hell no. She's also only the messenger. I'm basically the messenger of the messenger." Logan sat down on the edge of the bed.

"So who is it from?" Veronica looked confused.

"It's from Jess Ronnie. He bought it along with that ring of yours. I bet you he also has a necklace hidden somewhere. Ring, check. Earrings," he nodded at the box, "Check."

"A set? Man did I marry for money or what?" she jokingly asked him.

"No Veronica, you're marrying for love." Logan replied quietly.

"Ah yes, love. It's just pure luck that I get to marry a rich man as well. Wonder what Celeste would say to that?" she looked thoughtful.

"Now why would you bring up the most despicable Kane on your wedding day?" Logan rolled his eyes at her.

"I got word from Donut." She answered simply.

"He asked you to go runaway bride yet?" Logan asked in jest.

"No he just wanted to wish me complete happiness, just as you did minutes ago." She looked at him crossly.

"Good." Logan nodded approvingly.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you like Jess better than your best friend."

"Of course I do. I haven't seen or heard from him in years. That kinda eliminates him from BFF category. Besides, I've seen you with both of them and Jess just makes you happy the way not one of us did." Logan shrugged easily.

"So who's your BFF now?" she asked him amusedly.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Logan sighed heavily.

"Of course."

"Dick, my BFF is Dick. Happy now?"

"Decidedly so." Veronica giggled happily.

She sobered up in a bit and looked at him seriously, "Donut wanted thank you for the champagne and for being so understanding. Know why?"

"I sent him champagne through Kane Software, for ridding the world of evil." Logan spoke softly.

Veronica nodded slowly, a look of understanding passed between them.

"Do you think she would have approved of Jess?" for a second it was like they were in high school again.

"Depends, if he picked you over her she probably wouldn't have. But knowing Lilly she would love anyone who would make you happy as Jess does."

"He does. For the first time in my life I actually think I'll die if he's not with me. It's scary, the way he makes me feel." Veronica mumbled quietly.

"That is scary. Veronica Mars scared, not really the world I want to live in." Logan tried to lighten the mood.

"I don't think I'll survive if anything happened to him."

"Then why marry him?"

Veronica scowled at his question, "Because I love him."

"Then there. Stop waiting for something bad to happen, Jess isn't the one with the dangerous job; if anything he's the one who is constantly worrying about you." Logan reached out and took her hand in his squeezing it reassuringly, "Nothing bad will happen to him Veronica. You already fulfilled your quota in that department, now all you have left is the happily ever after."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked insecurely.

"Because I am Logan Echolls, no way in hell I could be wrong." At his words Veronica smiled again. He spread his hands in the air around her, pretending to read her aura, "I predict that you would have a dozen children, combinations of blondes and brunettes, with eyes of sapphire and chocolate." He closed his eyes to make his act even more convincing. Veronica giggled at his antics and wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Are you making Veronica cry?" a disapproving voice filled the room.

Logan opened his eyes and smiled warmly at Addy.

"I only asked you to give her the gift and here you are making her cry." Addy slapped Logan's arm.

"Hey! I was cheering her up. She was the one going all weepy on me." Logan mock pouted.

Addy looked at him doubtfully and turned to Veronica, "Did you like it?" she smiled nervously at Veronica.

"Of course I did." Veronica smiled at her.

"Good, because Jess kept asking me over and over since he proposed to you." Addy shook her head.

"He bought it with the ring didn't he?" a soft smile graced Veronica's features.

"Is there a matching necklace? I was telling her that there probably is." Logan piped in.

Addy shook her head in amusement and sat next to him.

"I'd take that as a yes Ronnie. No answer is usually yes when it comes to those two." Logan stated as he pulled Addy closer to him.

Addy squirmed out of his reach and looked at Veronica, "The hairstylist will be here later. She started with Lorelai and Rory first. I told her to do your hair last so your hair would look fresher. You're sticking with curls right?"

"On that note I'll be heading out, while my masculinity is still intact." Logan leaned over to Addy, "Kiss."

Addy stood up and pulled him to his feet. "Excuse us."

"She's going to give me a bigger kiss outside the door." Logan told Veronica gleefully.

"No. I'm just walking you out the door." Addy pushed him gently out the door and was about to shut it when he grabbed her and grinned at Veronica as he reached behind Addy and closed the door.

Veronica shook her head at the two and turned back on her reflection; she smiled and reached for her phone.

Jess answered on the first ring. "Hey you." He whispered to the phone.

"Thanks for the flowers and for the earrings." Veronica whispered to the phone as well.

"Is it okay for us to be talking?" Jess asked, Veronica could tell from his tone that he was smiling.

"We're good. You're not supposed to see me till the wedding. But hearing from me is okay, I think." Veronica laughed quietly.

"Good. I needed to hear your voice."

"Aw."

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you." She replied.

"Is someone with you right now? Luke's been glued to my side since I woke up."

"That's why you're whispering. Nope, Addy just went outside with Logan. I've been by myself since I told dad I had to do girly stuff."

"Lucky." Envy tinting his voice.

"Hey Jess."

"We're getting married." Jess finished for her.

Veronica bit her lower lip at his reply. "I can't wait."

"Me neither."

"I love you."

"I love you."

"Addy's coming back, see you later?"

"Yeah, you'll be the one wearing white right?"

"Ha, ha."

"Later beautiful."

Veronica was grinning from ear to ear when Addy entered the room again.

"You look every bit of the blushing bride." Addy commented, admiration written all over her face.

"I'm getting married." Veronica giggled happily.

"I know."

The two squealed like two thirteen year olds with crushes.

AN: And that's another chapter of A lifetime. I chose to focus on Jess and Veronica, I figured that they deserved to have a chapter about their marriage all to themselves, pure fluff. That said I have messages to my reviewers:

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Thanks for the review. I doubt we'll be seeing Addy drunk anytime soon, she isn't the type to allow herself to lose control, comes with her personality. LH didn't mean to insult her LE basically provoked him, he was just itching for a fight. As for his attachement to Addy well it'll be revealed soon enough. I'm glad you liked last chapter. Thanks for reviewing.

LoVe23: I haven't received any e-mail from at all. So I guess I'm not the only one having problem with this site. Anyway, I'm so happy that you are liking this story, truly. And the confrontation had to happen and I actually changed the way LH responded to LE a couple of times before coming up with his retort. I'm glad that you are liking Addy now, she knows that the thing between her and Logan has to end. Logan and Veronica's story was epic and Addy and Logan's, well they are a- well you'll find out. She didn't like Rory at first because she sees her as the woman who broke Jess' heart, but once they cleared that up, she sincerely thinks that Rory is better for Logan, and you'll know how much she believes that soon enough. Can't wait for next week either, I'm so looking forward to the new seasons. Hopefully the ratings for VM increases, just so we'll have the 22 episodes. I do know that there are more than one Veronicas and Logans on myspace, I had to verify with the CW lounge so I could get the right one. Thanks for reviewing as always.

tylerhiltongrupie53: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you like this one as well, this is an homage to Jess and Veronica. I love them together so I just had to focus on them in this chapter. I'm glad that you think I got Jess' personality, I appreciate it. As for the gag gift well it's an inside joke between them, I had to include that because it shows off their friendship. And LE is too pretty so I couldn't very well have him looking less than perfect can I? Anyway, next chapter is the wedding itself. Thanks for the review.

shotswithMrsKim: What can I say? Thanks for the review. It's understandable that you didn't like anyone after last chapter. LE was itching for a fight, not just over Addy. LH was jealous and Addy seemed to be juggling two guys at once. But it's great that despite not liking any of the characters you still liked the chapter. I appreciate the feedback, always. Hopefully the three characters will come off better in the upcoming chapters. Thanks for the review.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I own nothing. And I don't own the song.

Jess adjusted his cuff links for the nth time. It was five minutes before he had to walk down the aisle and wait for Veronica to join him.

He looked at Luke who nodded at him reassuringly. He turned and faced Addy who adjusted his tie for the nth time that day. He rolled his eyes at Logan who kept a hand on Addy's waist.

The violin started to play a nameless tune and the wedding planner signaled for them to start walking. Jess walked with Luke by his side, just as they practiced at the rehearsal. Addy and Logan soon followed.

Jess' gaze roamed he saw Jimmy sitting on the second pew on his side of the church and next to him was Liz and TJ. He smiled at them and he tried not to shake his head at his mother's tears.

Sitting in front of them was Lorelai, Rory and Hunter. The two women wore the same shade of dress as Mac did; peach was Veronica's choice of color. Jess smiled to himself as he remembered the argument that Veronica and Wallace had. The two argued on whether or not Wallace should get a tux the same color as the bridesmaid's dress. In the end they agreed on Wallace wearing a peach tie.

He kept looking around and smiled at the Townsends, who smiled at him in return, they were sitting with the Gilmores. Veronica's side of the church was bustling with activity. The front pew was occupied by Alicia, Darrell and Dick. Eli, Carmen and Natasha were sitting behind them. The rest of the guests were Veronica's old friends from Hearst.

He and Luke reached Father Patrick; Luke shook his hand and hugged him before joining Lorelai. Jess turned to look at Addy who was wearing a black dress with a white sash at the waist, to reinforce her best man/maid status. Logan was wearing a suit almost identical to his, only he wore a peach tie as well, to fully convince Wallace that it wasn't so bad.

His cousins walked down the aisle after them and the crowd seemed amused by the twins. He can't help but smile at the way Richie and Will beamed at their captive audience.

Addy gave him a reassuring look when the bridal march began. His sister Willa walked in first, dropping flower petals daintily. Mac followed behind her and smiled when she saw her husband, who to her dismay hollered as she walked by. Wallace followed thereafter, looking every bit confident with the exception of his constant tugging of his tie.

Jess breathed deeply when Wallace reached them. He turned to the direction of the church doors and waited for Veronica to appear. The guests rose when Keith and Veronica stood at the door. He thought he would stop breathing when he saw her. She was very secretive about her wedding dress.

Veronica was a vision; she was wearing an off the shoulder white dress, the bodice was decorated with intricate beading, the A line skirt flowed down the floor, a peach sash tied at her waist. Her hair remained down, curls gracing her face. Her veil couldn't hide the sparkle in her eyes.

Keith was looking very happy as they walked down the aisle. When they reached Jess he lifted Veronica's veil and kissed her cheek. He looked at Jess, hesitated for a second and watched how Jess would react. Jess smiled at him and he grinned back. He let go of Veronica's arm and shook Jess' hand and half-hugged him. He took back Veronica's arm and gave it to Jess. An unspoken agreement passed between the two men.

"Who gives this woman?" Father Patrick asked.

"I do." Keith answered. Keith nodded and went to sit next to Alicia.

The guests sat back down. Veronica turned to Wallace and was going to hand him her bouquet. Wallace shook his head, Mac rolled her eyes and was about to reach for the flowers when Addy stepped in, smiled and took the bouquet from Veronica, since she didn't have one. She winked at Wallace and gestured for Father Patrick to begin.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join Veronica and Jess in holy matrimony…"

* * *

The guests applauded at Wallace's speech. Veronica stood up and hugged her best friend, glad that she wore waterproof mascara.

"You look happy." He whispered to hear ear.

"That's because I am." She replied tearfully. "Great speech."

"Of course it was. I had to revise it for the last twelve months. That Addy is such a perfectionist. But it was worth it, your reaction made it worth it. Keep her happy." He ordered Jess.

"You know I will." Jess replied.

Wallace nodded and hugged Veronica again. He sat back down and gestured toward Addy. She smiled at him and stood up.

"Wallace and I planned our speeches together. But with his permission I won't be using the one that I originally wrote." Wallace nodded at her and she continued, "Two months ago Jess came up to me asking for a song that will be played as he and Veronica danced their first dance as man and wife. I wasn't able to suggest anything, so Jess has been searching for the right song. Two weeks ago when I asked him if he found _the song_, he told me a bunch that he was considering. I asked him if I could pick it for him, thirteen years of friendship and Jess trusted me enough to pick it for him."

Jess was looking at her in wonder. Veronica was smiling at her encouragingly.

"On my twelfth birthday I got two tickets to a Broadway show, I managed to convince Jess to come with me. I don't know if you remember this Jess, but I told you back then how much I loved one song in particular. Whenever Jess and I talk about his relationship with Veronica I never miss the awe in his voice. Funny thing is I could say the same thing about her. Jess and Veronica, this song is your song. " She nodded at the person from the sound system.

Jess stood up and offered his hand to Veronica, who took it gracefully. The song began to play and Mr. and Mrs. Jess Mariano danced their first dance as man and wife.

_I peer through windows, watch life go by  
Dream of tomorrow, and wonder why  
The past is holding me  
Keeping life at bay  
I wander lost in yesterday  
Wanting to fly  
But scared to try  
But if someone like you  
Found someone like me  
Then suddenly, nothing would ever be the same  
My heart would take wing  
And I'd feel so alive  
If someone like you  
Found me  
So many secrets I long to share  
All I have needed is someone there  
To help me see a world  
I've never seen before  
A love to open every door  
To set me free  
So I can soar  
If someone like you  
Found someone like me  
Then suddenly, nothing would ever be the same!   
There'd be a new way to live  
A new life to love  
If someone like you  
Found me  
Oh, if someone like you  
Found someone like me  
Then suddenly  
Nothing would ever be the same   
My heart would take wing  
And I'd feel so alive  
If someone like you  
Loved me... _

Once the song ended Jess and Veronica kissed, the guests applauded and they took a bow.

Jess walked back to the table with Veronica at his side. When he reached Addy the two best friends hugged.

"Amazing song." He said as he let her go.

"I'm glad you liked it. Did you like it Veronica?" Addy turned to Veronica, waiting for her reaction.

"It was great. It fit us perfectly." Veronica smiled at her and then at Jess.

"Thanks." Jess put his arm around Veronica and kissed her temple.

Logan appeared at Addy's side, "Great song sweetums."

"Thanks honeybunch." Addy leaned against him and smiled.

"Now if you'll excuse us. Addy and I will be on the dance floor, doing the tango." Logan held his hand out to Addy.

"Tango? I so don't think so." Addy yanked her hand away from Logan.

"Come on." Logan pouted.

"No." Addy shook her head and moved to sit back down.

Logan pulled her up again and dragged her to the dance floor. Addy rolled her eyes and did not bother to protest.

* * *

"Hey."

"Hey." Logan said back.

"Great wedding huh?" Rory commented.

"Yeah, it was amazing." Logan agreed.

"And Jess tearing up was classic." Rory added.

"I told him not to cry but he did anyway." Logan shook his head, smiling.

"But it was sweet that he did."

"Yeah it was." Logan nodded and smiled at the direction of the bride and groom.

"So, Hunter's going to ask Addy to dance. Are you going to stop him?" Rory nodded in Hunter and Addy's direction.

Logan turned to see the other two and he shook his head when he saw Addy look for him. Their eyes locked and he nodded imperceptibly which Addy obviously saw because she in turn nodded to Hunter.

"I have to say I'm surprised that you aren't running over there to stop them from dancing." Rory looked at him archly.

"It's just a dance." Logan shrugged.

"But compared to their other encounters this is pretty big. He'll be wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to him." Rory knew she was pushing it.

Logan looked at her, confused at where she was getting at. "Are you mad at me or something?"

"Mad, why would I be mad?"

"I don't know, your tone suggests mad."

"No, I'm not mad."

"Yes you are." Logan frowned and looked at her intently.

* * *

"Would you like to dance?" Hunter asked Addy.

Addy just finished dancing with Logan who went to get them drinks, when Hunter asked her. She looked for Logan and saw him talking to Rory so she figured it was okay to dance with Hunter.

She nodded and they walked to the dance floor just as a slow song began. The two were quiet as they swayed to the music.

"I gave you those tickets." Hunter blurted out of nowhere.

"What?" Addy seemed startled at his statement.

"To that Broadway show you were talking about earlier. Jekyll and Hyde, it was my gift to you."

"Oh yeah, I remember. You were supposed to go with me but you went to Cancun."

"Yes."

"Seems like a lifetime ago huh? You missed a lot."

"I did. I don't want to miss anymore."

Addy lowered her head at his words. He lifted her chin so they could look at each other eye to eye.

"I don't want to miss anymore Addy."

Before Addy could reply the song ended and fled from his arms and straight into Logan's who was waiting with Rory.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Logan looked at her with concern.

"I need some fresh air. Let's go outside." Addy grabbed his hand and the two of them left the hall.

"What was that all about?" Rory asked Hunter.

"I'm getting through her." was all Hunter could say.

* * *

SUNDAY

It was eleven in the morning. Everyone was chattering quietly, their mood subdued. Keith brought his knife to his glass to get everyone's attention. When he got it he stood up.

"Everyone, Jess and Veronica must bid their final farewells. The newlyweds are Europe bound. That said, thank you for being here for the last two weeks." He hugged Veronica and then Jess.

Addy left the room and Logan soon followed.

"Where are you off to?" he stopped her from going upstairs.

"I'm getting my bag. My flight leaves at one." Addy replied in a rush.

"Where are you going? Were you even going to say goodbye?" Logan looked crushed.

"Of course, I was not going to leave you high and dry Logan. But I need to get my bag because I had to confirm something with Jess."

Addy kissed his cheek and walked up the stairs leaving Logan looking after her.

Logan walked back to the dining room and saw Rory.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked her cautiously.

"No. I wasn't mad at you. I just, you punched Hunter."

"He provoked me."

"Still violence doesn't solve anything. I'm sorry if I snapped at you."

"No biggie. Are you guys leaving tonight?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll see you around." Logan took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly.

"No you won't." Rory shook her head sadly.

"You never know. I just might decide to shoot a movie at your neck of the woods." Logan smiled at her.

"New Heaven, Connecticut?"

"No Stars Hollow. That town sounds cool. I know Jess likes to grumble about it but I could tell he loved that place." He allowed their fingers to intertwine.

Rory looked at the hands and smiled, "Give me a call if you're ever there."

"Okay." He let her hand go and smiled.

Addy walked back in, Logan smiled at Rory again and joined the younger girl.

"So you two picked a place already. I'm heading there for a couple of days to settle everything." Addy told Jess and Veronica.

"I'm sure we can do that if you have something else to do." Veronica offered.

"No. It's okay. I haven't been there for a few years. I'm happy to do it." Addy shrugged.

"Let her go Veronica. She's been dying to go there for awhile now." Jess grinned at his wife.

"Okay, I feel out of the loop." Logan stated out of nowhere.

"I'm heading over to New Zealand. Jess and Veronica picked that place for my parents' wedding gift."

"That's where you're going?" Logan asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Flying coach." Addy smiled at him.

"Huh." Jess and Veronica exchanged looks and wisely moved on.

"Are you okay?" Addy put her hand on his forehead checking his temperature.

"Yeah, so you're going away. Again." Logan began.

"I bought you a ticket." Addy looked a little uneasy.

"I'm going with you?"

"Only if you want to."

"Coach? Can't we upgrade to business class at least?" Logan grinned.

"No upgrades." Addy shook her head.

"New Zealand? I guess I could go." Logan said slowly.

"You guess?" Addy looked at him archly.

"I'd love to go." Logan kissed her temple and looked happy.

AN: That's another chapter of A Lifetime. I'm almost done with this fic but I won't be able to post on Thurday because I won't have access to any computer. But I will try and post on Friday night. Anyway, the song in this fic was from a broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde, whic LH already said. I was browsing through my ipod and found this song, I really thought that it fit Jess and Veronica perfectly. Anyway, Thanks for reading.

To my reviewers:

Problem Child1: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it. I just see Jess and Veronica repeating those words over and over again just to make sure that it's all true. Thanks for reviewing.

LoVe23: I was smiling as I wrote last chapter too. I just love those crazy kids together. And I just wanted LE and V to have a friendly moment together so I threw that one in. I do hope that VM gets the 22 episodes they deserve. And I WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE! And I absolutely adored it. I saw the link that you sent me and it was completely squeeeeeee worthy. I forgot where I found the link to their myspace profiles. I'll look for it and e-mail it to you. Thanks for reviewing.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Hope that this was soon enough for you. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Thnaks for reviewing.

shotswithMrsKim: I'm glad you liked Jess and even if I am a lit fan I lost all hope, especially since seeing Milo in his new show, which totally rocked! As for Logan having Dick as his BFF well it had to be done and I've come to love Ryan Hansen's character (notice how I was able to avoid the dirty), he has great lines on the show, and altogether unhateable now. Watch the new season and you'll know why. Your secrets are safe with me, mum's the word. Thanks for the review.

tylerhiltongrupie53: Your all caps response was much appreciated. I'm so glad you loved the last chapter. And that you can actually see them having the phone conversation is just too gratifying. I'm also glad that you liked the friendship moments that L/V and Addy/Jess had. Hope you can picture the wedding dress that V wore. I saw it on a bride's magazine and thought, this would look perfect on Veronica. Thanks for the review.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It has been a week since she flew back from Neptune California.

Rory Gilmore looked around her apartment and sighed. The movers picked up Logan's stuff earlier that day. The only thing left was her stuff, which will be moved the very next day.

She quit her job at the news station. Heading back to Stars Hollow seemed like a good idea. Now as she saw her stuff she was starting to have her doubts. Everything felt a little off when she came back and she figured it was just her life. She made changes yet it still felt weird.

She hasn't heard from anyone at the other side of the country. It all felt like a bad dream. A knock on her door stopped her from dwelling on her feelings for a certain movie director. The person behind the door made her grimace involuntarily.

"Hello."

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Rory asked, not caring if it seemed rude.

Addy was carrying two cups of coffee and offered one to Rory. Rory took it hesitantly and opened the door to let her in.

"What can I do for you?" Rory asked and then took a sip of her coffee, "This coffee is great. Where did you get it?"

"A couple of blocks away from here and I just need to talk to you about Logan."

"What about him?" Rory asked coolly.

Addy sat on the chair that she offered and gave her a serious look, "Whether you want to admit it or not you are already half-in love with him. And if Jess is right about you then you probably did all the research you could do on him."

Rory shrugged and remained quiet.

"And Logan has told me himself that you made him feel hopeful. That's why I'm here. I'm going to give you a crash course on Logan Echolls. I know certain things that don't appear on any news report."

"Why would you do that?" Rory gave her a suspicious look.

"Because I want you two to have a fighting chance." Addy answered simply.

"Why?"

"Logan's relationships with women always manage to end badly."

Rory leaned forward, ready to listen.

"From Lilly Kane to me, he either messes it up or the woman he is involved with ruins it. If you have any sort of feelings for him at all you'll hear me out." Addy leaned back on the chair and waited for her answer.

"Okay." Was Rory's quiet reply.

"Okay." Addy sighed deeply as though mentally preparing herself.

"Logan's relationship with Lilly was a tragedy, with Veronica it was epic, his and mine was a dramedy. But given the chance yours and his has the potential to be the happily ever after that he deserves."

"Do you really believe that?" Rory asked with hidden hope.

"Yes. But for that to happen you have to realize a few thing about him. Logan has gone far in his life despite all the bad that kept happening to him. Ever since Lilly, someone close to him manages to die year after year. Lilly was when he was sixteen, his mom when he was seventeen, his bastard dad when he was eighteen."

Rory nodded, she knows all this.

"That man did everything he could to destroy Logan's spirit. I'm glad that he's dead."

Rory wrapped her arms around herself as Addy continued.

"Now I may sound callous but that man deserved everything he got. I hope he is burning in hell right now."

Rory shivered involuntarily at her cold tone.

"What I'm about to tell you will help you understand Logan better. But it may also sicken you and wonder why I never did anything about it. You have to keep listening even if it becomes too hard. Do you understand?" Addy looked at her with such seriousness.

Rory nodded slowly, wondering what was so bad.

"In junior year Logan spent most of his time tormenting Veronica and doing stupid things. You may have heard of the bum fights that he orchestrated, it was on Access Hollywood for weeks at a time, certainly not one of his finer moments. I disliked him so much for what he did. I ignored him for a few days. He understood and he gave me space, but after he announced to the entire world that Aaron was going to donate loads of money he came to me that night…" Addy trailed off.

"Addy." Rory reached out to squeeze her hand.

"He looked normal; he even managed to be sarcastic. But when his back touched the door he winced and I insisted on seeing what made him react the way he did. And it was horrifying, his back was laced with belt marks, there was even blood. Logan told me then that _he_ would ask him to pick out the belt that Logan would be hit with. Underneath the new wounds were old ones and I wanted him to run away with me right then and there. But Logan wouldn't hear of it, he worried about his mother, Duncan and despite all his hurtful words towards her, Veronica."

"I told him I could protect him that my parents' money has to be good for something; he made me swear never to talk about it with anyone. And I respected his wishes."

"Why?" Rory uttered morosely.

"The very same reason why I never pursued my attacker, it was a sign of weakness. By admitting that something was out of your control, you are handing someone else the power. To have to endure the treatment that he had since he was eight made Logan ashamed of any weakness. By the time he was nine he told me that he stopped crying whenever the belt connected against his skin and _he_ would try harder but Logan never cried again."

"Until his mom died. I try to remember Lynn as the loving mother but my heart could not forgive her for abandoning Logan."

"There's more." Rory mumbled quietly.

"Yes, during the trial of Lilly Kane's murder the DA asked if any of Logan's sister's ramblings about Logan's abuse was true. I kept to my word and never said anything, even if it would have insured the bastard's fate. But Logan was insistent, he couldn't let _him_ win, he didn't want anyone to look at him with pity but most of all he couldn't stand the idea that people would continue loving the bastard despite everything he did."

"Despite everything he's been through there has always been a softer side to Logan. He showed it when he talked about Lilly and eventually Veronica. The bastard never did succeed in breaking Logan, the fact that Logan is still capable of falling in love is proof of that. Veronica and I are living, breathing examples of his ability to love. Only neither of us was the one for him."

"Lilly was his first love, but she wasn't destined to be his forever. The two were like polar opposites, constantly pulling at each other. If Lilly hadn't died they would have fizzled into nothingness. Veronica was Logan's first crush. She was refreshing change from the shallow beings that Logan associated with before he moved to Neptune. They had a more tumultuous relationship because despite their denials they really loved each other, too much that when they hurt each other the result was more than excruciating. Their history was their death sentence, they were meant for other people. It took them three tries to realize that."

"And then what?" Rory prompted as Addy seemed to lose her train of thought.

"Then it was our turn. He and I were friends, really good friends. I actually considered him as my Jess of the west coast. Oddly enough even when he was going through a tough time in high school he still managed to be nice to me. Despite all the drama that he endured with Veronica and the rest of the town he was my friend. And I was his."

"You two became something more."

"But we weren't meant to be more than friends. I relied on his friendship and he relied on mine, by crossing the line between friends and lovers we made a mess of everything. It's not hard to love Logan, he can be an ass sometimes but there is a side to him that would make any girl's heart skip a beat. You know this."

Rory nodded.

"We were both very broken when we got together. Logan just realized that the epic relationship he had dreamed up between him and Veronica was just a dream. And I was grieving over the loss of my grandfather. We were both mourning and we thought that comforting each other was the way to go."

"We took comfort in each other when we should have just remained friends. It ended badly; he told me that you know how things ended between us. I walked away and I guess I proved his theory on all the women in his life; that we all just walk away."

Addy breathed in deeply before continuing, "Logan and I made the casual arrangement because we thought that maybe we are meant to be. But we're not. Logan and I are just meant to be friends. That's why he can't let go that easily, because we were friends first and foremost. That's why I couldn't let go either."

"But he left with you. He went to another country with you. He kissed and made out with you the entire two weeks, and if I'm not mistaken you two even had sex." Rory shook her head at Addy.

"He did. And we did, but those were unresolved feelings, hormones even. We spent the entire year baiting each other, trying to reclaim something we had when we were only twenty, the companionship and warmth of having someone beside you. I'm not saying that he didn't love me because he did. But you have to understand all of our friends were either married or are on the verge. Before you and Hunter came along we both thought that maybe we should just give up and settle."

"So playing with each other's hearts was your solution?"

"We both figured that we already have the affection for each other and we did it all before, only I still didn't trust him after what happened between us."

"But you two got over that last week." Rory countered.

"I trusted Logan, my friend. But the Logan I was in a relationship with, not so much. When I saw you two kissing that was when everything was made clear. We were both desperate for an ending so we resolved to resolve our issues. And the last few days of Jess and Veronica's wedding the need to tear off each other's clothes waned, the need to regain our friendship increased. That's why we went to New Zealand together, not for more alone time, but to get back what we missed most in each other. Our friendship was my lifeline when I wanted to disappear. While with me he never had to hide the broken part of him."

"We are too attached. If you two ever work out, you will have to accept that. But rest assured that there is nothing more between us other than friendship." Addy finished quietly.

"I don't know." Rory shook her head unsurely.

"When you two kissed did you feel more alive than ever before? Did you feel hope bursting inside you?" Addy looked at her eagerly.

Rory nodded vigorously at her questions.

"Logan said those same words. If you two are feeling the same thing then why not trust that."

"Because we may end up hurting each other." Rory admitted.

"Why assume that you will? I see something in you two. Logan doesn't trust easily. The fact that he told you everything about us the second that he met you is very telling. He's the one for you. I would have never told you the things that I said if I wasn't sure of that. I know that you will use that knowledge in treating him kindly but not too kindly that he'd feel like a fragile glass." Addy stared at her eyes and right through her soul.

Rory nodded at the insight that the younger girl provided. "Are you sure you don't want him?"

Addy laughed and shook her head in amusement. "I thought we already established that. Besides, I have another Logan in mind."

"Logan is way better than Hunter." Rory started defensively.

"Then why did you stay with him for seven years?"

Rory frowned at her question.

"Look, you know a different Hunter. When you two got together he and I lost each other. But before all the mess between us happened he had a soft side. He never blamed me for the arrangement that my grandfather and his father had. He never forgot a birthday or a special occasion. By the time I was fourteen I knew he loved me, in every sense of the word. He never looked at me like I was this lame kid. He respected my views and never made me feel stupid. I was the one pulling back our last year together. I took it upon myself to get together with a carbon copy of him, to prove that I didn't need my grandfather to set me up with someone else." Addy paused.

"Then why did you allow yourself to be separate from each other all these years?" Rory broached the subject kindly.

"He probably told you about everything." When Rory nodded she continued, "The thought that he knew what Damien did to me was enough for me to pull back completely. I wondered if he had any part of it, because the afternoon before the party he lost his temper and shouted at me. It'll take time before I could actually want to be with him, but the truth is when you've been told that you're going to end up with someone over and over again you believe it yourself. And Hunter is not a hard person to love; our years together ensured his place in my heart. Despite all the bad things that happened between us, I don't think I was ever meant to stop." Addy smiled at her wryly.

"And Logan is he okay with that? You said it yourself you two are too attached."

"He won't be okay with it for awhile. But it'll have more to do with you and Hunter. He kept saying that Hunter was insane for letting you go." Addy shrugged.

"Still, it won't be weird if we just swapped boyfriends?"

"We aren't swapping. Logan and I are only meant to be friends and that's all there is to it. Hunter, well I don't want to sound arrogant but he has always been mine." Addy looked rueful at her admission.

Rory smiled at the younger girl's declaration. "How can you be so sure?"

"How can I not be?" Addy pulled at her necklace and showed her a ring, "Nine years ago, before all the mess happened we were spending the day at New York, we went into a pawnshop and saw this ring. He laughed at my fascination with this ring and told me that he would get me a bigger one. I told him he was a snob for not recognizing something wonderful, we eventually left the shop bickering mindlessly. When Logan and I arrived at New Zealand I found this in my bag. He remembers everything about us. And that in itself is proof enough for me." Addy shrugged.

Rory looked at the ring and then her eyes widened, "He always wore that underneath his shirt. He had that since I met him. He told me it was a reminder for him, but he never mentioned what."

"A reminder of what he and I lost." Addy smiled sadly.

"But what you two can have again." Rory countered.

"That's tomorrow's problem. For now I have to know if you will give Logan a time of day when he comes to you." Addy prodded.

"An endorsement from a good friend who also happens to be his ex girlfriend, how can I not?" Rory shrugged helplessly.

"Oh, I can also get Veronica's seal of approval if you want." Addy contributed.

"Everything you said is enough."

Before they could get further into the conversation someone from the front door interrupted them.

"I just wanted to check if I got everything." Hunter shouted from the hall. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Addy. "Addy." He said her name slowly his eyes speaking volumes for him.

Addy rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not a ghost or anything. You need to wipe that woebegone expression on your face."

"What are you doing here?"

"Just sorting things out with Rory, I'm going to go." She directed the last part to her hostess.

"Okay. Thanks, for sorting things out." Rory grinned at her.

"No problem, happy to. Just remember if you need anything about the thing, I'm ready to give you any input." Addy smiled at her and the two women hugged.

"So I'm going." Addy said again and looked at Hunter's direction, "I'm in the mood for some pizza."

Hunter looked at her blankly; his focus was on her entirely.

Addy frowned at him and shook her head. "I guess I have to spell it out for you. I'm going to go and have dinner at that pizza parlor three blocks down." She said the words slowly. When she got no response from him she shook her head, exasperated and walked out the door.

A minute or two passed when Hunter finally saw Rory looking at him with the very same expression that Addy had before she left. "What?" he asked all defensive.

"That was Addy asking you out to dinner." Rory frowned at him.

"It was?" Hunter looked puzzled, and then the realization of what he did, or did not do dawned on him. He shot her a grateful look and ran out the door.

Rory ignored the ringing phone and grabbed her purse. She was on the computer the last few hours and it was already dinner time. She grabbed her keys and started for the door.

She opened the door and in front of her was one Logan Echolls, hand poised on the empty air, obviously on the verge of knocking on the door.

* * *

It has been three days since she and Addy talked about the man before her. She called her the day before wondering when Logan would appear, Addy just replied that she didn't know and reassured her that the last thing that Logan was, was fickle. And here he was, right before her very eyes, when she least expected him.

Logan dropped his hand to his side and grinned at her boyishly.

"Hi." He uttered simply.

"How did you know I was here?" Rory blurted out.

"I called Jess, who called Luke, who told Jess that you were back here at Stars Hollow, charming town by the way." Logan replied.

"What? Why?" Rory was confused by his word play.

"Well I just left Luke's Diner and I was greeted by these two women on the street, I could've sworn that one of them grabbed my butt. Then I met a Mr. Doose, who said he was the town's welcome wagon. After Luke chased him away, a carriage stopped before me and that guy there," Logan pointed behind him, where Kirk was sitting on a horse-drawn carriage, "Told me that he would take me to my destination. So here I am." Logan looked sheepish.

"But why are you here?" Rory tried to hide the smile on her face.

Logan leaned on the doorframe and gave her a knowing look.

"I know that Addy talked to you."

"So what if she did?"

"Okay so we're playing coy then. Fine, I like you a lot Rory. And I'm here to see if you would go out on a date with me." Logan gave her a full blown smile.

"That's it. I waited ten days for that." Rory wrinkled her nose at him.

"Did you want me to declare my eternal love for you, for the entire town to see?" Logan gestured behind him; Kirk was leaning forward, straining to hear their conversation.

"Dude, if you want to hear us you may want to walk over here and you'll get the front row center view." Logan shouted so Kirk would hear.

"I guess not." Rory smiled at him.

"I want us to take this thing, us," he gestured between them, "slow. Because I have a feeling that you and I together would be worth the wait."

Rory looked at him still unsure.

"Rory let me take you out to dinner. We can go to that _Al's Pancake World_ we passed by earlier. From there I can promise you grand romantic gestures. For now I just want us to talk."

Rory smiled at him but still refused to answer.

"I like talking to you." Logan admitted shyly.

"So let's talk. And you're in luck Al's Pancake World is having International Cuisine Night." Rory took his proffered arm.

"But isn't it a pancake house?" Logan's brow furrowed.

"All part of the small town charm." Rory grinned at him and the two walked arm in arm to the carriage.

AN: SO that's it for Chapter 25. I'm sorry if it took awhile. I haven't had any access to the computer till now. I hope that Logan and Addy's relationship was explained. I basically tackled the issue of Logan. He has a lot of issues and Addy had to explain that to Rory. Thanks for reading.

To my reviewers:

tylerhiltongrupie53: I'm glad that you liked the last chapter. I'm winding this story down already so I had to focus on the RoganE. As for a sequel I'll have to think about it. School is pretty much occupying my time so I have to work that part out first. If I do have a good idea for a story for the two of them I won't rule it out. As for the dress I'm so happy that my vision of her dress was translated. Thanks for reviewing, I love all your comments.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Yes that was a long review and I appreciate your comments. I'm glad that you liked the wedding. And the interactions between LH and Addy, LE and Rory. This time I basically resolved most of their issues in this chapter. And hopefully Addy actually talking to Rory about Logan was the last thing you expected, your take on how I write just flatters me beyond words. Thanks for reviewing.

Pygme: Thanks for the review. And sad to say but Logan and Addy are broken up. I sort of promised this ending for LoVe23 already. Bright side Huntzberger and Addy are going to be okay. They're going to have a good ending. Thanks for reviewing.

shotswithMrsKim: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And Logan here is trying for the slow progess as well. Thanks for reviewing.

LoVe23: Thanks for reviewing I'm glad you liked it. The entire wedding was not perfect but it was a Jess and Veronica wedding. And Dick, he just steals the show. I watched the new episode on msn, you may want to check it out, I think it's still up. Even if I did watch it already I would still watch it on Tuesday. That's devotion for you. I'm posting the myspace for the Veronica. Hopefully you'll be able to add the right person. The CW is giving gifts away when VM gets 5000 friends so hopefully everyone else reading this would add her to their myspace, here it is http/ And Logan, Mac, Wallace, Dick, Weevil and even Keith have their own myspace account just click on Veronica's page and she has a list of Neptune's finest. Add away. Thanks for the review.


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Sorry for the long delay. I'm having trouble with my computer. I couldn't access the internet so few the last three days this fic has been waiting hopelessly in my USB drive. But here you go...the last installment of A Lifetime Ago. I thought this was the best place to end this fic. So to all who bothered to read all reviewed my deepest thanks. Now for one last time, on with the story...

THREE YEARS LATER

Rory strolled into the house, wondering if anyone was home. Before she could react a squeal coming from the living room answered her unvoiced question.

"You are absolutely glowing. I bet you can light up the entire Neptune County!" Addy Townsend walked over her and the two women hugged each other.

Rory smiled demurely "I am not glowing."

"Yes you are!" Addy insisted. "So where's that no good husband of yours? I am dying to know how he reacted."

"He's still unloading our stuff." Rory replied.

"He's going all protective mode on you isn't he?" Addy had a knowing look on her face.

"It's very sweet actually." Rory replied in her husband's defense.

"Of course, so how did he take the news?" Addy was all excited to know.

"Well, I did what you told me. He walked off for an hour-"

"Are you two conspiring again?" Logan Echolls walked over to Rory and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"You have such an awful timing as always. I was just asking Rory what you did when you found out." Addy scowled at him.

Logan frowned at her in return "Do you mean to tell me that you knew before I did?"

Addy stuck her tongue at him, "Of course I did."

"I did tell her first, I needed her input on how to tell you. You know she is absolutely wonderful in that area." Rory nudged her husband playfully.

"Ah so the cider and the flower trail was her idea." Logan raised his brow at Rory.

"I merely pushed her in the right direction. So how about you tell me what you did after you found out." Addy smiled at the couple.

"As I was saying, Logan here walked off for an hour. When he returned he had people following him. He had twelve hundred daisies delivered to the house and a caterer for an impromptu party for the entire town." Rory smiled at Logan fondly.

Addy raised her brows at Logan critically. "That's it."

"What do you mean that's it? I spared no expense for the news. That's only for finding out." Logan scoffed defensively.

"It was great. I wasn't expecting what he did, I loved it honey." Rory caressed Logan's cheek tenderly.

"Spare me the PDA." Addy rolled her eyes at them jokingly.

"You're just jealous." Logan taunted her teasingly.

Addy laughed at him and shook her head in amusement.

"Actually Addy, Logan and I were wondering if you'd like to be our baby's godmother." Rory began softly.

"Are you guys sure? I mean I already have my hands full." Addy looked unsure at their request.

"Of course we want you to be the godmother. After all you have been most instrumental." Logan answered he raised his hand and Rory's to show what he meant.

"Do you know that Dick has the progressive idea of having two godmothers instead of a godfather?" Addy grinned as she said the words.

"Are you telling me that they're not asking me to be the godfather?" Logan looked hurt.

"Of course they are, but only if they couldn't find anyone else." Addy teased him.

"I am hurt and appalled that everyone is questioning my ability to become a good godfather. Wallace told me it's a piece of cake." Logan replied with such superiority.

"I know you'll be a good godfather, but more importantly a good father." Rory tried to soothe her husband's ego.

"Oh shut it Logan. Of course you are the godfather, he was only pondering. Anyway, about your request-"

Addy was interrupted by new arrivals, Jess and Veronica Mariano.

"Oh there he is. How's my godson doing today?" Addy forgot everyone else as soon as she saw the one year old in Veronica's arms. Veronica smiled at Addy and handed her son over to his godmother.

The one year old with sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes gurgled in delight at seeing Addy.

"Who's my favorite person in the world?" Addy asked the little boy as she lifted him up in the air and down again. The little boy giggled at her actions.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant!" Veronica blurted out when she saw Rory.

"I am." Rory smiled at her.

"How far along are you? You are glowing." Veronica commented as she hugged the brunette.

"I'm almost done with my first trimester." Rory replied.

"That's good. How are you dealing with the morning sickness?" Veronica asked.

"Hate it, but the good thing is that it's not as often anymore." Rory answered her with a rueful smile.

"Good for you. I'm so excited. How did Lorelai react to the news?"

"Happy at first but then Luke called her grandma so she's trying to process that bit of info." Logan answered Veronica.

"Luke finally got his revenge on her. He kept complaining that when our son was born Lorelai was always calling him gramps." Jess smirked at the group.

"That's funny." Addy murmured as she made faces at her godson, who giggled at her happily. "Classic Luke and Lorelai, so when are they getting here?"

"Well they are at Will and Richie's camp for Parent's Day but they'll be here tomorrow." Rory responded.

"Did anyone win yet?" Addy asked Jess and Veronica when she handed Veronica their son back.

"Win what?" Logan asked, intrigued.

"They bet that this little cutie here would say mama or dada first." Addy replied as she pinched the little boy's cheek gently, which resulted with another gurgled laughter.

"We're tied actually." Jess admitted.

"He said mada." Veronica smiled ruefully.

"My godson is so diplomatic already." Addy smiled proudly. "Aren't you Lukey?" she tickled the little boy who squirmed in his mother's arms.

"Don't call him that." Jess rolled his eyes at Addy.

"Why not? It's his nickname isn't it? Lucas Keith Mars-Mariano. Lukey is the perfect combination of Lucas and Keith."

Jess grumbled but stopped when Veronica passed Lukey to him. "We have to come up with something better. I mean Lukey is okay until he is four but what if that name sticks until he is twenty or something."

"Then we'll call him M squared." Addy bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Funny." Jess made a face at her.

"I already call him LK. That way we won't confuse him with either Luke or Keith. You are such a suck up by the way." Logan turned to Jess.

"I am, am I? So what are you planning on calling your unborn child?" Jess challenged him.

"If our baby's a girl she'll be Lorelai Lynn Echolls." Logan replied grudgingly.

"And if your baby is a boy?" Jess countered.

Logan frowned at him.

"You are just angry that I took Luke already. No chance to suck up yourself, admit it." Jess taunted.

"He'll be Victor Lucas Echolls." Rory interjected as the two men were glaring at each other.

"Two birds in one stone that way." Veronica said thoughtfully.

Addy giggled at the picture that her friends made but frowned when she remembered something, "Where's Hunter?" she asked Jess.

"He's finishing up at the office." Jess replied.

"Your deadbeat boyfriend finally got a job?" Logan eyed her critically.

"He's not a deadbeat. And he's not working for Jess. Jess is publishing his first novel." Addy glared at him.

"You know I can always use a gofer if he needs a job." Logan suggested laughingly.

"He doesn't need a job, he has one already. He's a writer." Addy insisted.

"He's a good one too. I'm overseeing the publication of his book and the man is talented." Jess admitted.

"See? Just because he quit his job with his family three years ago doesn't mean he can't make it on his own. He's actually in talks with your studio about a screenplay he wrote." Addy added.

"Whatever." Logan pouted. Rory smiled at him and pulled his arm closer to her.

"So are you two planning on joining us in our wedded bliss anytime soon?" Rory asked to diffuse the tension.

Addy shook her head in amusement but before she could answer Hunter himself strolled into the room.

"There's Hunterilli." Addy greeted her boyfriend joyously.

"How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that?" Hunter greeted back in an exasperated tone.

"How many times have you asked me already?" Addy retorted as he kissed her cheek.

"About six hundred and fifty one times already." He replied wearily.

"When we reach a thousand ask me again." She responded cheekily.

"So when is everyone else getting here?" Hunter asked as he looked around and saw a few from their group missing.

"Mac and Dick are flying over tonight. Eli and Carmen said they'd be here for dinner. Wallace and his flavor of the month will be here tomorrow, so will Luke and Lorelai." Veronica answered for the rest of them.

"So what are we doing this year?" Rory asked eagerly.

It has become tradition that they all fly over to Neptune, CA, on Jess and Veronica's anniversary. They have a series of activities planned out just as they did three years ago, two weeks before Jess and Veronica's nuptials.

"This year we are going to Baja California." Jess shot a look at Logan.

"Dude." Logan glared at him.

"Actually I planned something else. We are after all celebrating a new addition to our family." Addy smiled at Rory.

"So what's the plan?" Jess asked her quizzically.

"Well we are going to the Caribbean. The yacht, this time I'm providing the transportation instead of letting Dick take care of it; will be waiting for us at the Albacore Club on Tuesday." Addy looked around the room hoping for a reaction.

"That's great. Did you book a hotel?" Jess wondered aloud.

"Nope, Dick has a new hotel over there. He did tell me that he reserved cabanas for all of us. I of course checked to make sure so we have that one covered."

"So tomorrow are we going shopping for the appropriate clothes?" Veronica asked, already excited at the group getaway.

"Of course it's going to be-" Logan was cut off.

"Fun, fun, fun." The entire group finished for him.

Logan frowned at everyone, including his wife, "and a bag of chips." He smirked.

Everyone looked at him, puzzled at his words.

"Fun, fun, fun and a bag of chips, I've always wanted to say that." Logan looked at everyone, rolling his eyes at their expression.

"You're lucky, you're beautiful. Our baby can get his looks from you and his intelligence from me." Rory smiled at him impertinently. Logan gave her a fake frown and proceeded to kiss her smile away.

"Oh come on." Addy protested at their display while everyone else groaned. Logan did not bother to open his eyes and just flashed them his middle finger.

* * *

The group divided into two. Logan extracted three cigars and handed them over to Jess and Hunter, the three proceeded outside; while the women stayed in the living room

"So you never did say if you would be our baby's godmother." Rory began as they got settled.

"Of course I'd be happy to." Addy smiled at her.

"Two godchildren already." Veronica commented.

"I don't know why you all want me to be a godparent, but I'm happy to do it just the same." Addy replied humbly.

"Well you are very reliable, responsible, trustworthy, and you love Lukey so much that I wonder why you haven't settled down yet." Veronica stated such praise.

"Thanks. But I'm not ready for that yet." Addy smiled her gratefully.

"Why not?" Rory was curious.

"Well Hunter is still in the process of finding himself and as much as we love each other we agreed that marriage is not for us. After all we are already living together, what more can I ask for?" Addy shrugged.

"You don't want to get married at all?" Veronica was surprised.

"I'm not ruling it out entirely but for now I'm satisfied with what we have. It took us years to get here, so we're following that trend and taking our time." Addy answered simply.

"What if he asks you?" Rory inquired gently.

Addy looked at her a little suspicious at her question, "You know something."

"I don't." Rory denied but the smile on her face gave her away.

"Spill." Veronica said as she put Lukey down on the crib that Addy provided for him.

"Well Hunter was just asking about you know, how Logan asked me to marry him." Rory shrugged helplessly.

"Did you tell him the lengths that Logan went through to ask you to marry him?" Addy asked.

"Yes. But that's all I know. I'm not sure if he's going to ask you for sure."

"Will you say yes if he does?" Veronica asked directly.

"Should I?" Addy rejoined.

"Maybe Jess is better qualified to answer that." Veronica admitted quietly.

"I will only say yes if he fixes his relationship with his family first." Addy was referring to the great fall out between Hunter and Mitchum when Hunter told his father that he refused to work for someone who would endanger the love of his life, which resulted in his loss of employment and a huge rift between him and his family.

"He won't do it Addy, you know that." Rory replied quietly.

"I don't get why he won't. I gave him my blessing, am I not the injured party? What I say should count. Besides I talked to Mitchum a month ago and he apologized to me."

"You talked to his dad?"

"Yes but I told him that I won't actively participate in reuniting them with each other."

"You'll say no if he refuses to fix his relationship with his family?" Veronica looked at her dubiously.

"Of course I'll say yes. I love him and he loves me. I'm just family oriented. The idea that he's relationship with his family is in such disarray is not something I want to live with." Addy admitted.

"Then maybe you should tell him that. I'm going to return the favor you did for me three years ago. Hunter will do anything for you; each and every one of us knows that. If you tell him how you really feel then maybe he'll be more open to forgive his father." Rory explained.

"Okay we are officially done with that topic. Thanks for the advice. Just tell him not to ask me to marry him anytime soon. It'll be just too weird if our engagement falls right next to Jess and Veronica's anniversary.

"We already have enough to celebrate?" Veronica asked laughingly.

"Exactly. Besides I want my own month." Addy grinned at the two of them.

Rory looked at the two of them with such wonder.

"We're happy. I mean all three of us are happy." Rory stated at the looks that Veronica and Addy gave her.

"Who would have thought that the three of us would be here three years ago?" Veronica agreed.

"Yes we are happy. And it's going to stay that way for always." Addy uttered with such conviction.

"How can you be so sure?" Veronica smiled at her reaction.

"Because the problems we had seemed like a lifetime ago and we are with the loves of our lives. What more can a woman ask?" Addy asked the other two.

"Fun, fun, fun and more bags of chips?" Rory answered jokingly.

"You are definitely Lorelai Leigh Echolls, wife of the one and only Logan Echolls." Veronica smiled at Rory.

"Just as you are Veronica Mariano." Addy contributed.

"You have to get married soon, then you'll be a Huntzberger." Rory told her teasingly.

"Actually Hunter wants to take my name, he'll be Logan 'Hunter' Townsend." Addy giggled.

"And here I thought I was wearing the pants in my relationship." Veronica giggled as well.

"Maybe Logan can be a Gilmore." Rory added and the three women burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Logan asked as he joined his wife on the sofa. Jess and Hunter followed suit.

"Oh nothing." Rory answered dismissively. The three women exchanged looks and laughed all over again.

"Do you ever wonder if they have a secret code?" Jess shot a questioningly look at Logan.

"They're women of course they have a secret code." Logan smirked at him.

"It's part of their charm." Hunter added as he put his arm around Addy who beamed at him.

"You say that now, wait till you're married, then you'll be scratching your head all the time." Jess shot back. Veronica elbowed his stomach at his comment and Rory smacked Logan's arm for good measure.

"We are happy." Addy blurted out and the three women cracked up all over again.

"We are?" Hunter directed the question to everyone once the women calmed down.

Addy eyed him seriously, "What do you think?"

Hunter looked at everyone around the room. The answer was yes. Three years ago he was in a relationship that was based on convenience, now he was with the woman he loved more than anything in the world. Rory was expecting her first child with Logan. Jess actually became his friend. Yes they were all happy. But before he could voice his opinion Logan spoke for him.

"Of course we are you doofus." Hunter shot him a dirty look at his words. "I'm going to be a dad and Rory will be an awesome mom, Jess and Ronnie are expecting their second child and you are getting married."

"He is? To whom?" Addy shot Hunter an amused look.

"You are such an ass hat!" Hunter glared at the other man.

"You're pregnant too?" Rory squealed in delight.

"I'm only in my second month. I didn't want to steal your thunder." Veronica hugged Jess as she replied. Jess kissed her temple and smiled.

"I had to tell those guys, they all had big news." Jess told her smilingly. Veronica tilted her head at him and shook her head in mock disapproval.

"You mean you haven't asked her yet?" Logan smirked at Hunter.

"Rory's pregnant, Mac's pregnant and now Veronica, this is so _Sisterhood of the traveling Pants_." Addy commented laughingly.

"I haven't asked her yet! But I will, when we're done with all of your anniversaries." Hunter looked at Addy uncertainly.

"Maybe Carmen will tell us tonight that she's pregnant too, and then your children will be just like that book. They'll have Lukey as some sort of wise beyond his years older brother." Addy clapped her hands in delight as she walked over to her sleeping godson.

Hunter frowned at her direction when she didn't seem to care about the part of their 'marriage'.

"Yo Addy Bell, don't go leaving Hunter all high and dry." Logan tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"I heard him." Addy responded dismissively, but she went back to her seat right next to Hunter. "And he knows me so well." She pinched his cheeks as if he was a child, "good call on waiting till we're done with their celebration."

"Does that mean you are saying yes?" Jess looked at his best friend gamely.

Addy grinned at him and shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we Hunterilli?"

"Careful Bella, I'm beginning to like that name." Hunter replied as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"That's the idea." She leaned against him and the two smiled adoringly at each other.

"So are we having dinner here tonight or at the Mariano Manor?" Logan interrupted the moment, causing everyone else to glare at him; it was very rare that Addy and Hunter showed affection beyond a hug and a kiss on the cheek least of all a look that conveyed their complete love and devotion for each other.

"What?" Logan asked defensively.

"Come on honey, before you have to put your foot in your mouth." Rory stood up and grabbed her husband's arm. The two walked out arm in arm.

"We are eating at the Mariano Manor." Jess replied as he held out his hand to his wife, who took it with a smile on her face at his reference to their house as a manor. They went over the crib where their sleeping son lay. Jess let go of her hand and picked Lukey up. Veronica hooked her arm into his once he had their son securely in his arms.

Addy and Hunter exchanged looks and got up as well, following the other couples as they began their walk over to Jess and Veronica's Home.

"Just so you know I am planning on saying yes. But only if-"

"If I talked to my dad, I already did. He groveled a lot, enough to satisfy even me." Hunter grinned at her.

"You know me so well." Addy looked up at him and smiled tearfully.

Hunter put his arm around her, "We really are happy. All of us." Reinforcing Addy's earlier observation.

THE END

AN2: There you go folks. The end of the line. Thank you so much for reading this fic and much love to those who reviewed and followed me through this story. I hope it measured up to all of your expectations. I am so grateful for the feedback and encouragement that I received from everyone as I was writing this. And again, thank you very much.

To my reviewers, one last time:

LoVe23: I absolutely loved you reaction. In my head the only way that Rory would stick around for good is if she knew the inner workings of Logan's mind, thus the Addy conversation. And from that I developed the actual relationship for the two. I'll try and send you the link to the myspace page, hopefully it'll post this time. I rewatched VM two nights ago and I still loved it. It was filled with LoVely moments that just made me giggle like a school girl. Thank you for supporting this fic, it was because of you that I even bothered. Thanks again for reviewing.

Problem Child1: Yes now everyone is happy. Or on the way there. I'm glad that you noticed that Rory is feisty I am starting to like her again. Especially since her reaction to the news that Lorelai slept with Christopher (notice that I didn't even include Christopher as a possible name for Rory and Logan's child). I am heartbroken over the fact that Luke just gave up. It was heartwrenching hearing him say that he and Lorelai just don't belong together. sigh

tylerhiltongrupie: Yay you indeed. Thans so much for the review. And I would honestly like to continue this fic but school has a way of ruining plans. Anyway, if I ever write more about the Jess and Veronica relationship, I'll probably post it on the Veronica Mars section. Again thanks for the reviews, I am forever grateful.

MHxxPAPER DOLL: Thanks for the review. Your description of your reaction made my day. Rory and Addy are indeed friends now. The last chapter was a beginning of a beautiful friendship. And yes Logan did meet Miss Patty and Babette (you spelled it right), I couldn't exactly expect them not to grab Logan's butt, he is after all Logan Echolls. Thanks again for all the reviews.


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